The Beacon

Dr. Richardson called.
"Hey Jesse, can you meet me for breakfast at the Beacon,
say around 8:00?"
The Beacon is a true Oxford landmark.
It was started in 1960 by Flem Mize.
It is the place to eat breakfast in this small town.
They don't take credit cards, just cash, and if they know you, a check.
Jesse sat talking to Ms. Charlene, the owner.
Tony, her son who now runs the place, brought him a coffee.
"How is Seth liking Ole Miss football?"
"He is hanging in there. He said the speed is the hardest thing to get used to."
"Yea, you always here that, how much faster college is, and then how much faster the NFL is."
Erik walked in and waved to one of his patients sitting alone at a table.

"How are you this morning Mr. Hastings?"
Jesse and Erik sat down in one of the red booths near the coffee machine toward the back.
"I am loving this weather today, supposed to get up to 50."
Erik took a deep breath and looked Jesse in the eye.
"My nurse discovered something on one of the X-rays we took of Anne when she was in for the concussion."
Jesse felt a wave of fear roll over him, like the first cold wind of winter.

"I never even saw the X-ray until late yesterday, the girl running the machine had accidentally forgot to put it in the file.

The only reason we noticed was my nurse thought to count the slides and found one more than listed."

Jesse didn't even hear Erik's explanation..

"Is it a tumor?"

Erik said he wasn't sure but would have to run more test. But whatever it was, it wasn't supposed to be there.

"I wanted to talk to you about it first cause I know she will be way calmer than you will. 

We both know she takes everything in stride, whereas you start fearing the worse.

I have cleared everything for the morning so we can find out what is going on."

Jesse grimaced a little and thanked Erik for taking the time to do this.

"I will ride out to the ranch and tell her.

 We will meet you at the hospital at 9:30.

wkm

The Horses

Nashville