Page 64 of Built

Mum is sitting at the big pine table in the middle of the open plan living room with a cup of tea. Dad’s standing at the sink, but he turns when I come in.

“Lukey.” Mum goes to get up, but I hurry over to give her a kiss.

“What is it? Don’t make me wait. Let’s just get it over with.”

Dad sighs and walks over to lay his hand on my shoulder. “Sit down, Lukey. You want a cup of tea?”

I sit, though it’s the last thing I want to do. “It’s bad isn’t it?”

Dad sits opposite me and I watch his face as he folds his hands in front of him on the table. He’s not making eye contact, so I know it’s bad.

“It’s cancer.”

“We don’t know that!” I glance around at Mum who’s sitting beside me. Her face is drawn and her hands are clenched tightly around her tea.

“Joanne, there’s no point beating around the bush.” He turns back to me. “The colonoscopy turned up some polyps and when they removed them for biopsy, it seems like there are malignant cells. The long and the short of it is, I have to go back to Sydney in two weeks for another procedure. This time it’ll be a surgery to remove part of my bowel and after that the doctor might want me to have chemotherapy as well.”

I suck in a breath through my teeth. This is exactly what I was dreading.

“It’s not the end of the world. The prognosis is still good.” Dad’s voice is so calm. How the hell does he have so much control?

“Fuck!”

“Luke!”

“Sorry, Mum, but surely cancer gives me a free pass to say fuck.”

She frowns at me, but Dad chuckles. “Pretty sure a few fucks never hurt anyone.”

Mum scowls at him. “Rob!”

I ran my hands through my hair. “What about the cost? Will your health insurance cover it?”

The smile drops from Dad’s face and Mum covers her mouth with her hand.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

And now this lawsuit is hanging over their heads and they don’t even know it.

“We’ll be OK, Lukey,” Mum says eventually. “The gap is a bit bigger than we expected, but the bank already said we can redraw on the mortgage, and business has been picking up.”

That’s not what Jack says, but I don’t argue. I just bite down my worry and try to give them a reassuring smile. More than ever, I hope Mia has been able to work some magic on Margaret and at least that disaster can be averted.

I stick around for a while and manage to choke down some tea. Eventually, I say goodbye and head home.

I’m worried. I can’t pretend I’m not.

When I get home, Mia spots it straightaway.

“This is cute.” She peeps around me as I open the door to let her into my place. Then stops when she catches what must be the look on my face. “Oh, Luke, what happened?”

I brush a speck of something from my eye as I struggle to keep my voice steady. “Dad’s got cancer.”

She instantly drops the bag she’s holding and slips her arms around my waist. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

It takes me a long moment to get my shit together, and more to feel like letting her go. Mia stays right where she is until I’m finally able to draw a long breath. “He’s going to be OK.”

I nod. “He just needs treatment, but the cost...”

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