At Dr. Cunningham’s office, Jonas took a seat in the corner and leafed through the magazines on a table next to him while Dolores signed in at the receptionist window. He found a six month old sports magazine, flopped it open on his lap and began flipping through the pages. Halfway through the magazine he stopped to examine a full page ad for an overpriced razor. A handsome, clean shaven face took up the right side of the page. He slowly ran his fingers over the image. Dolores sat next to him, her purse in her lap, humming along to the piped-in music in the waiting room to rid herself of the nervousness of waiting. After a few moments, Dr. Cunningham appeared through a door to the left of the receptionist window.
“Jonas?” he asked with a smile. He ushered them through the door and down a hall to an examination room toward the back of the building. “Have a seat.” he motioned toward two chairs as he clipped an x-ray picture of Jonas into the light board on the wall behind him. “So we took a look at the some of the x-rays of Jonas’ jaw from Monday. We used a computer to calculate the distances between specific reference points along the bone to determine how much, if any, his jaw is continuing to protrude.” He continued explaining Jonas’ situation to her, occasionally pointing to the x-ray with the pen from his breast pocket. “…from everything we can tell, there’s only been a change of between .5 and .7 millimeters among all the distances. That’s not bad at all. I’ve heard of much worse cases.”
“So is it slowing down?” Dolores asked worried.
“Well, it’s not slowing down, but at least it’s not growing any more than in the previous few years. And that’s a good sign.”
“So what do you think of fixing it with surgery? He's kinda concerned about that.”
“Well, surgery is an option, but not at this stage. And most insurance companies won't cover it because they consider it a cosmetic problem. Especially in cases like Jonas' where it's not affecting nerves or blood flow to the teeth or tongue. But what we can do for now, and what I think is the best option for the time being, considering that it's not causing him any pain, is I'll give you another script for the drug that slows the calcification, and I’m going to have the ladies up front schedule you for a visit with a specialist in Cleveland. They have a group of orthopedic doctors up there that specializes in facial orthopedic anomalies, and they would be able to give you a lot more treatment options, and more extensive knowledge in this specific area. You can call them and work out whatever arrangements would best suit your schedules and they’ll take good care of you.” He patted Jonas on the shoulder. “I’ve seen the folks up there do some really great work with patients like you, Jonas.” He shook Dolores’ hand and ushered them back down the hall and into the waiting room. “If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call here.”
All Dolores could think about was the scheduling. She would have to take off work in order to take Jonas to his appointments. She thought about picking up an double shift on Wednesdays to free up Thursday, since that was her shortest shift of the week.
When they got home, Jonas turned on the TV in the living room, and plopped himself onto the couch. Dolores was worried, however, and walked directly to her bedroom. The thought of having to adjust her work schedule, and what if they did decide to operate? Her thoughts soon progressed to how different things would be if she hadn’t gotten pregnant in the first place. Memories of the night Jonas was conceived came flooding back. She fell to her side and curled into the fetal position on the bed. She had tried desperately for years to kill the memories of that night, but regardless of her tears, her anger or her prayers, the pain haunted her. The roar of the crowd from the television carried her back to that night.