The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,135
of her eyes. She began to sob.
“I will not be able to bear it if you cry,” Uncle whispered.
“I can’t bear the thought of your being here,” she said, raising her head to look at him.
“When I spoke to you this morning, I thought, She does not believe my story about a friend from Shanghai,” he said, his eyes still closed.
“I wanted to, but other thoughts kept intruding.”
“We know each other too well.”
“How can that be a bad thing?”
He opened his eyes and she saw they were gleaming. Her spirits rose.
“So your flight was on time?”
“Of course.”
“Did Sonny get you?”
“Yes.”
“He has been following me, he and that woman of his. He thinks I did not notice.”
“He thought you might have.”
“Well, I give him credit for that.”
“He’s just worried. We all are.”
“Who are ‘we’?”
“Him, me, Lourdes.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
“I want to keep it that way.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Did they tell you what I have, the nurses?”
Ava stroked the back of his hand. The skin was soft and clear, his nails manicured. “No, but I know you’ve been getting brachytherapy, and I’ve been hearing about and seeing the stomach problems you’ve been having. When you threw up blood last week on the street . . . Well, I assumed the worst.”
“It started about six months ago, and fool that I am, I ignored it for three months. And then I could not let it go anymore.”
“Stomach cancer?”
“Yes.”
“What caused it?”
“Smoking, they think.”
“But you’re still smoking.”
“Yes. I went to a gweilo doctor named Parker when I first became aware of my symptoms. I figured he would not know who I was, and so there would be no gossip. When he gave me the diagnosis, I asked him if I should stop. He said, ‘Why? It won’t reverse the damage. And after all these years, the withdrawal would only cause you extra stress.’”
“But they’re treating the cancer.”
“There is not much they can do,” he said, his eyes closing again as if the words pained him. “It is into my liver and pancreas. They cannot perform surgery, and even if they could, at my age it would not be wise. They offered me chemotherapy, but after Parker described it to me I decided to pass. So I am taking the radiation treatment. It buys me some time.”
“Is there some treatment available anywhere else, like the United States?”
He placed his free hand on top of hers and squeezed. “Ava, I am eighty-four years old. Why would I want to become a desperate man now, when I have spent my entire life being in control? No, this is the process I have chosen, and I am going to see it through my way. I value my dignity — maybe even too much — and I have a reputation that I intend to uphold. So Ava, I am telling you, as much I respect you, do not try to do anything else, and please keep the rest of the world at bay. I understand about Sonny and Lourdes, and I also know them well enough to know they would not dare talk about me to anyone else. You are not quite so afraid of me.”
“Amanda gets married in January,” Ava said softly.
“What does that mean?”
“She needs me here, so I’ll be staying in Hong Kong until then at the least.”
“I am sure she will appreciate that.”
“When I’m not working on the wedding, I can spend time with you. I should be able to visit every day. We can meet in the mornings for jook.”
“I do not intend to live only on congee,” he said, a tiny smile playing on his lips.
“You know what I mean.”
“I think I do.” He opened his eyes and gazed at her.
She felt a flutter of panic, a fear of what she would see in them. But she saw the same resolute eyes she’d been looking into for more than ten years.
“There are some things I need to discuss with you,” he said. “If we do it now, then we never need to discuss these things again, do we.”
“Do we have to now?”
“It would give me some peace. I have been thinking about these things for some time now.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“You know I have no family left.”
“Yes.”
“And I have been in Hong Kong for so many years that my ties to Wuhan are more wishful thinking than real.”
Ava nodded.
“I met with a lawyer two months ago and did my will. I named you as executor.”
“Uncle, I do not want to talk about your will,” Ava said.