The Monster's Loose

I arrived at oncology. I had come through town. Traffic had been bad. I arrived with a sense of urgency. This was immediately halted by the sight of Margaret was in the chair by the door. Her bobble hat was cute. Its childlike quality made her appear vulnerable. She was vulnerable. I looked down at her shoes. Her little six 6. Her feet were swollen. We were called into the consultation room.

"I wish it was good news," the consultant said from behind her desk, from behind her screen. The screen displayed Margaret's latest MRI result. MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Its like an x-ray.

"I wish it was good news," she began, turning the screen to view. "but it's not."

The room took a breath, a short intake of breath.

"The tumour has spread."

"Oh."

"It's moved out of the target area," she said at least that's what I thought she said - target area.

The monster's loose, I thought. It was. It was loose.

"Can I look at the scan?" I said.

"Ok," she said. She glanced over at Margaret, indicating she could look too. 

"No, I'm ok. I'd rather not."

I got up, moved around the table and began looking over the consultant's shoulder. Through x-ray black, grey and white, white dots had appeared where there had been none before. Yes, the monster was loose. And the monster wouldn't leave until it had consumed Margaret whole.