Dr. Blacklung, I Presume?, Part 8

Dr. Blacklung, I Presume
By:  slimv

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Chapter 8:  Regular or Menthol
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Amanda Benson rubbed her eyes as if she were trying to erase her frustration.
She and Jim had done every thing they could think of.  Kenny was their pride
and joy.  They had given him every opportunity.  It wasn't that he was a bad
kid.  He wasn't.  He had morals and values.  He was a wonderful student and a
force to be reckoned with on the athletic field.  Fortune had smiled on him.
He was blessed with personality and looks.  So why was he wasting his time
with Katie O'Hare?

"Honest to God Kenny.  I don't know what you see in that O'Hare girl," said
his father as he scooped a fork full of mashed potatoes to his mouth.  "She's
pretty son, I'll give you that.  I know the two of you have been friends for
a long time.  But its one thing to be friends with a girl like that and quite
another to be dating her.  You are dating her, aren't you?"

It was Kenny's turn to erase the frustration from his face.  "She smokes Dad.
She doesn't torture puppies.  I don't see why you and mom have to make such a
big deal of it."

"Don't you know what people are saying about you," asked his mother?  "People
are saying you smoke too.  Don't tell me you haven't heard that.  Doesn't
that bother you?"

"I don't smoke Mom!"  "Do you want to check my pockets or smell my breath?"

"Don't get mad at your mom Kenny.  She's just repeating what she's heard.
I've heard it too and Dang if it doesn't make me mad enough to spit!

"Jim!  Please!  Watch your language around the boy!" gasped Amanda.

"I'm sorry," said Jim, "But you know how mad that makes me.  Kenny they 're
just rumors.  You know it and we know it, but rumors are tight as the gospel
to everyone else.  Now the only way to bust up these Dang rumors, pardon my
French, is for you to bust up with Katie."

Kenny put down his fork in disbelief.  He knew his parents had issues, but he
didn't know how deep they ran.  "Let me get this straight.  You and mom think
I should break up with the girl I love because she smokes cigarettes."

Amanda gasped again.  "Kenny, no matter what else you may be thinking, you're
not in love with Katie O'Hare.  You can't be.  She's just not your type."

"Even if you were son, you'd do well to get over stinkin thinkin like that.
You two don't have a future together.  Think about Kenny.  What kind of life
would you have with Katie O'Hare?  I don't know what you know about Emphysema
son but I know plenty.  When I was growing up, my father told me about this
friend of his that had a cousin with emphysema.  And do you know what
happened to my father's frien d's cousin?  Do you know what happened?"

"No Dad.  What happened?"

"He Died.  Can you believe that?"

"Shocking," said Kenny.  "Absolutely shocking."

"Quit mocking your father Kenny.  He knows what he's talking about.  It's
true, that boy really did die.  I know how young people think.  They always
think it can't happen to them.  Well it sure happened to Katie didn't it?  Do
you want to wind up like her?"

"Mom, I told you I don't smoke!"

"You don't have to smoke to catch lung cancer or emphysema Kenny.  You can
catch it just by being around a smoker.  All that time you spend with Katie
has got to be killing your lungs.  Personally, I don't see how you stand
being in the same room with her when she's smoking.  And I'm not exaggerating
when I say I can smell her from 15 feet away.  That girl reeks of tobacco."

"It's all over your clothes", said his mom.  "I should know because I wash
them for you.  And people smell it on you too and it makes them think you
smoke!"

"I go t news for you Kenny and it's a bitter pill, but you got to swallow it
before it swallows you," said his father.  "Katie isn't long for this world.
I don't mean to upset you but that girl is dieing.  The sooner you break it
off with her the easier it's going to be on you when she's gone.  Don't you
see what I'm saying to you son.  You can't have a future with a girl whose
dieing."


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Katie lay on her bed with a legal pad and ashtray in front of her.  Her
parents and Kenny had left hours ago.  Dr. Avery had told her to stay in her
room and write down a list of things she liked about smoking.  He said it was
a self-esteem exercise and she would use her notes in one of the classes
tomorrow.

After fifteen minutes of work she had only found two things to write about.
Smoking gave her something to do with her hands and it made her look older.
He couldn't have been serious when he told her to make a list.  He had
probably told her to do it just to keep her busy until it was time for
dinner. 

The knock on the door brought relief to her boredom.

"Hi.  You must be Katie," said a thin attractive nurse.  "I'm Betty.  Dr.
Avery wanted me to tell you that its time for you to join the other girls for
dinner in the dining room.  And I also need to make sure you have the right
Smokygen tank.  I just need to know if you're regular or menthol and light or
full flavor."

"What" asked Katie? "I don't know what you're talking about.  I just got here
remember?"

"I'm talking about the Smolygen tank beside your bed.  That canister with the
mask behind you," said Betty as she pointed behind Katie."

Katie creened her neck and peeked behind her.  "That's an oxygen tank," said
Katie.  "What about it?"

Betty smiled and shook her head.  "That's what happens when Dr. Avery does
the orientations him self.  He's a good man and a fine doctor, but he doesn't
have an eye for details when it comes to new patients.  Surely you must h ave
heard the other girls talk about the Black Lung?  I think its the reason why
most of the girls come here."

"Not really," said Katie.  "I think I heard a little girl say the word in Dr.
Avery's waiting room but I didn't know what she was talking about."

"It's wonderful!" said Betty excitedly.  "Dr. Avery invented it him self.
You'll love it.  It looks like an oxygen tank but the air is mixed with
tobacco smoke.  That's why I needed to know if you smoke regular or menthol.
You wouldn't want a menthol tank if you're a regular smoker would you?"

"No, I guess not," said Katie.  She picked the gold pack of Benson & Hedges
up from the bedspread for Nurse Betty to see.  "Full flavor Benson & Hedges."

"Very good," said Betty.  "That means I won't have to change your tank.
Would you like to try it?  The girls just use them at night, but there's no
harm in getting sneak preview- right?"

"Sure," said Katie.  "Lets give it a spin.  How bad can it be?"

"Not bad at all," giggl ed Betty as she adjusted the levels on the tank to
mimic full flavor.  "Just sit up and lean back against your pillow.  If you
lay down you'll never want to get out of bed and Dr. Avery will skin me if
you don't make it to dinner.  OK.  The gages are set to full flavor and
you've got a regular tank.  All you have to do is put the mask on like you
would your normal oxygen mask and I'll turn you on."

Katie put the mask to her face and pulled the elastic strap over the back of
her head so that it fit comfortably.  The sound of her breathing was
magnified against the vinyl mask making her feel like Darth Vader.  

The next sound she heard besides her own breathing was the squeaking of the
metal valve as Nurse Betty turned on the flow from the tank.  The clear mask
turned gray as a mixture of tobacco smoke and oxygen flooded her face.  She
inhaled normally as she did when she used her own oxygen tank.  But this
wasn't like her oxygen.  It was better!

For the first time in recen t memory her lungs didn't feel like dead rocks.
They felt alive as if they were floating.  If she didn't know better she
would swear she didn't have emphysema at all.  Each breath of Smokygen filled
her lungs and relaxed her body.  It felt like smoking without the effort.
She wanted to live the rest of her life with this mask on!

It was the sound of the metal valves squeaking to the off position that
brought her back to the reality of her room.

"Why did you turn it off," asked Katie?  "Can't you do it just a little
more?"

Betty laughed.  "That's what they all say.  That's what I said too.  I bet
you wish you had one of these at home, don't you?"

Katie shook her head.  She was too depressed to talk.  She felt like a baby
whose mom had just taken away her pacifier.

"Don't worry Honey.  I'll turn it on for you tonight.  Now get your
cigarettes and join the other girls for dinner."

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Katie held her tray and gazed across the room for an emp ty chair.  She was
the new kid and she hated the feeling that came with it.  Loneliness and fear
gripped her.  And there, in the middle of the room was a chair at a table of
three girls, who by the ease of their conversation seemed well acquainted.
Like every other girl in the room, these three girls were smoking and eating
at the same time.  She'd seen her mother do it on occasion and thought it
rude.

"Is this seat taken," asked Katie?

Two of the girls ignored her completely and continued their smoke filled
conversation, alternating between bites of food and puffs from their
cigarettes.  It was the prettiest of the three who acknowledged her question.

The girl smiled at Katie.  She was probably fifteen or sixteen.  She had long
blonde hair like Kate's.  An unfiltered Pall Mall lay perched between her
fingers. Thick gray smoke trailed from her pursed lips.  "You must be the new
girl," she said in a tone that was neither intimidating nor overly welcome.

Katie took the pr etty girl's acknowledgement as an invitation to join their
table.  "I'm Katie," she said as she placed her tray on the table and pulled
back her chair.

"I'm Jessica.  The motor mouths are Celia and Debs.  Pleased to meet you
Katie."

The talkers, Celia and Debs, took a breather from their conversation upon
hearing their names.

The four of girls exchanged formal niceties as Katie cut into her pot roast.

"Where are your cigarettes," asked the girl called Debs.  "You can share mine
if you left them in your room."

"I don't smoke while I eat," said Katie.  "As a matter of fact I usually
don't talk with my mouth full," she said as she wiped her lips with a napkin.
"Not that it bothers me that you're smoking.  Its just that I wasn't brought
up that way."

All three girls broke out in giggles causing Katie to feel around her cheeks
for a rogue piece of food.

The girl's laughter came to an immediate halt as a not so nice version of a
high school lunch lady leaned over their tab le and demanded to know why
Katie's cigarettes weren't on the table where they could be seen and why she
wasn't smoking like everyone else.

The horrid lunch lady harshly explained that the punishment for not having
cigarettes visible at all times was a night without Smokygen.

"She didn't know," said Jessica.  "She's new.  Its her first day."

The expression on the lunch lady's face softened but not much.  "I'll let it
go this time," she said.  "But if I look around and see any one of you
without a cigarette in your hand then all four of you will lose Smokygen
privileges tonight!"

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