Page 135 of Something Like Forever

Tim was shirtless andholding one arm over his head. He remained perfectly still. Not forthe doctor’s benefit. He was simply too cautious at this point tocelebrate. The news sounded positive, but the last time he jumpedthe gun, he had learned that he needed surgery.

“You’re healing nicely,”Dr. Staples said, sounding pleased.

“Willthere be any scars added to my collection?” Tim asked. “If so, Ineed to choose names.”

“Sorry?” Dr. Staples said,pushing gently on his arm so he would lower it again.

“He names his scars,” Benexplained from a nearby chair. “So far he has a Ryan and aTravis.”

“And if the threeincisions become scars,” Tim said, shooting him a wink, “I’m goingto name them Joseph, Bishop, and Sanchez.”

Dr. Staples smiled. “Isee. Well, if these keep healing the way they are, there might notbe much to see. What’s your secret?”

“Cocoa butter,” Bensaid.

He had been rubbing itnightly on Tim’s wounds and—on one occasion—other placestoo.

“Keep itup,” Dr. Staples said. “I’m very pleased. Not only are you healingquickly, but the results of the surgery arepromising.”

“Aboutthat,” Tim said, returning to what she had revealed earlier. “Whenyou say I’m in remission… I know that’s good news, but I read allsorts of stuff online that says not to get happy because it’s noguarantee.”

Dr. Staples sighed. “Thereis always a chance that the cancer could return. In fact, you’retwice as likely to have a recurrence when compared to someone whonever had it. You’re also slightly more likely to develop a secondcancer somewhere else, but in my professional opinion, I think youshould feel optimistic. You beat cancer! Take pride in that. We’llkeep monitoring your health. Regular checkups will be part of yourlife from now on, so we’ll detect anything before it gets far. Justtry to stay active, eat healthy, and don’t worry so much. Let us dothat for you.”

Tim looked at Ben andgrinned. The gesture was returned.

“So I’m good to go?” Timasked, turning back to the doctor.

“Yes, although I wouldlike you to consider adjuvant chemotherapy.”

More chemo? Tim put hisshirt back on, grimacing while his face was hidden behind thecotton. “Why?”

“If anycancer remains on a level we can’t detect, the chemo might wipe itout. I know you didn’t have the best results with it before, but wecould try different agents. We would wait another month to give youmore time to recover. I do need to stress that this would only makeit slightly less likely that you would have a recurrence, but itwould increase the odds in your favor.”

Chemotherapy had been aterrible experience, but all he needed to do was look at Ben tofind his answer. “Okay. We can try that.”

“Good.You can still change your mind. Think about it, read some studies,and then we can—”

“I’mdoing it,” Tim said. “It’s a promise, and I tend to keepthose.”

The word choice wasn’tlost on Ben, who sniffed emotionally. The doctor went over a planof action, Tim already acting on one piece of advice: He could behappy now. He had faced a lot of fears and overcome many obstacles,but he didn’t have just medical professionals to thank. He lookedagain at Ben, and when they walked outside together, Tim knew hecouldn’t wait. Their surroundings weren’t the most romantic—theparking lot of an office building—but it would have todo.

“You heard what she said,”Tim said, stopping them before they left the sidewalk. “I beatcancer.”

“Yes you did!” Ben said.“Let’s go celebrate.”

“Holdup.” Tim took a deep breath. Then he took Ben’s hands. “I don’tknow if I could have survived this without you, but I made apromise and so did you. That made the difference. Now I’d like toask if you would—”

“Stop,” Ben said, his tonefull of good humor, but he was trying to pull away.

“I won’t,” Tim said,getting down on one knee. “It was the dream of this moment thatkept me going, so please, will you—”

“Stop!”Ben said, yanking away his hands. “Get up.Please.”

Tim stared, mouth goingdry. What now? Ben still didn’t want to marry him? He didn’t wantto admit defeat, but he also didn’t understand. Maybe the locationwas the problem. Tim stood, feeling uncertain. “Ithought—”

Ben pressed fingers to hislips. “I’ve been married twice, and I’ve never gotten to proposebefore. Considering that I’ve been wanting to do this since thefirst time I laid eyes on you…” He took one of Tim’s hands, then itwas Ben who went down on one knee. “Timothy Wyman, survivor ofcancer and my knight in tarnished armor, would you do me the honorof spending the rest of your veryverylong life with me as yourhusband?”

Tim was trying to holdback tears, but it was hopeless. “Yeah,” he croaked, using his freehand to wipe at his eyes. Then he grinned and nodded. “Hellyeah!”