MERIT_shortstory

I'm finding it harder than I realized to compress my ideas into coherent short stories. What an excellent exercise. Here goes..

MERIT - Magnetic Excited Resonant Imaging and Therapy

"Rick, unfortunately the news I have for you is not great." The doctor sat on a short wheeled chair. Rick looked down at him from his seat on the high examining table. He wondered if rather than put the patient at a convenient height for an examination, the table was meant to help the patient feel powerful in a situation where he was powerless. "The tumor we've been energizing is now half it's normal size. Normally the immune system will have killed it off by now, but in your case that doesn't seem to be happening."

"So is that it doc? Time to punch in my cards?" Rick had already spent six months in the research hospital, allowing them to poke and prod him, attempting to treat his inoperable cancer with a radical new technique. They called it MERIT, as if it had any. It was really a long acronym for Magnetic Excited Resonant Imaging and Therapy. It was somehow related to MRI, but Rick just thought of it as a fancy machine that was supposed to find and shrink his tumor. Of course it didn't shrink only his tumor. He had been warned of some "non-localized" effects, and sure enough he was three inches shorter than he had been when he arrived six months ago. Dropping to five-foot-six would be a small price to pay for removing the cancer, and it would have been, had it worked.

"Not quite." The doctor wheeled his chair closer, as if the proximity would somehow engender trust. Truth was, Rick had no other choice. Three other doctors had already declared he had less than a year to live, that at the ripe age of twenty-eight. His life had hardly begun. "We have a new protocol, MERIT-m, which we think may work in your unique situation. It's a similar process, but we go for a much more aggressive dose. If we can shrink the tumor to one-tenth it's normal size, even if your body's immune system doesn't kill it, the cellular machinery in the cancer should cease to function, rendering it inert -- like a compressed calcification. It's not without some risks..."

"Yeah, yeah. Non-localized effects. Possible liver damage. Doc, I'm dead in six months if you can't cure this, so do what you have to do." The doctor handed him clipboard with some form of disclosure. He signed without reading it. "Eight am, as usual?" The doctor nodded. "See you on the other side."

----

"Don't cry Cindy." As far as Rick could tell, his words didn't help. He had just gotten though relating the bad news the doc laid on him, and she was still bauling away, her arms slumped around him as they sat on the bed. Rick and Cindy had been friends since their first day in the MERIT study, actually more than friends. Cooped up in a hospital environment it was bound to happen. Flirting and hooking up was much more fun than surfing bad cable channels and youtube videos. Besides, Cindy was cute, more than cute, and they had nothing to lose. They were both half expected to be dead in a year.

"No, you can't go. They are supposed to cure you! Why can't they give you the MERIT-e? It's working so well for me." Cindy and Rick may have been in the same program, but they had very different problems. Cindy's tumor was benign. In fact, they could have simply left it alone if it wasn't pushing on the central nerve fibers in her brain-stem. Her MERIT-e therapy targeted and expanded the tumor cells, attempting to burst the cell walls, allowing her body's immune system to get inside and dismantle the confused proteins.

"They tell me the MERIT-e would spread my cancer cells all over my body. The doctor assures me there is a good chance this new therapy will work." He lifted her head and shoulders from his lap, "it's going to be okay, Cindy. You're going to be better soon, and out of this place. If I don't make it, you can find someone..."

"No!" She cut him off. She was a stunning sight. You see the MERIT-e had also had some non-localized effects. While he had lost a few inches, she had gained a few, and then some. She had been pretty to begin with, and now she was almost six-feet tall. "You're going to get through this. "And when you do, I'm going to be there for you, like you've been there for me."

"Ohh ya, all that support you needed while the therapy made you into a supermodel. I was a big help there." He knew it was an unfair dig. These were rough times for both of them, and he *had* really helped her. Right now though, he was just trying to provide some much needed levity. She gently shoved him in the arm as she smiled. He turned up the mockery, "Speaking of which, isn't it time for another marking?" He was referring to their ritual of recording their heights on the door frame as their treatment progressed.

"Rrrrrr.. alright." Her growl was mocking, as she couldn't help but show her spirits lifting. She had grown to love their little ritual. She loved getting taller, but it was about more than measurement. It had inspired their first kiss, and more often than not ended with them jumping between the sheets. She hopped up off the bed and Rick followed. She closed the door, exposing their previous marks, and then carefully locked it, assuring they would have some privacy. She leaned her back up against the door as he grabbed the pencil off the nightstand.

"God, you really are beautiful Cindy." Even in her borrowed sweatpants and tank-top t-shirt, she was a knockout. She had blond hair, legs that didn't quit, and following six months of their unusual therapy sessions, at least six inches on him. He had to step up very close to reach over her head and get the pencil lined up. Her hands quickly reached and pulled him in by the ass.

"You better remember that in ten years. I don't want to hear any lip about how you're tired of having a wife taller than you; how you bagged some floozy secretary in your law practice because she was short and cute." That was another one of their little games, making up their futures. It didn't matter how preposterous it was, as long as it involved the two of them years from now, still alive. It took their minds off cancer and the possibility of death. "I mean it. My treatment isn't quite done, so you better get used to having this _supermodel_ body chasing you around for the rest of your days." That was another thing she did. Talk about the changes like they were not even hers, like the body was given to her, which I suppose in some ways it was. "Did you get the mark?"

"Yes, yes. I got it." As soon as he answered, she hugged him up off the ground, turning them both around until he was pinned against the doorway himself. She looked down at the top of his head with a concerned look, bringing her hand to her mouth. Suddenly he was concerned. He couldn't help but react, "No. Don't tell me." How much smaller had he gotten since the last measurement? With her looking up at the wall, he realized his eyes were now well below her chin. She held out her hand for the pencil, carefully peering down over him as she marked it on the wall.

"I always did notice the tall girls end up with really short guys. I just didn't realize I'd be one of them!" Her voice was filled with laughter. He turned with urgency, seeing the new marks. She was now eight inches taller than him! "It could be worse Richard. You could be Five-foot-five and not have a lusty tall blond bombshell throwing herself at you." She leaned in, planting a kiss as her hand pushed him back against the door.

----

Being strapped into the MERIT machine was such a routine for him, he didn't think anything of the unusual and special new protocol they were going to administer for him. All he could think about was Cindy. How vivacious she'd been last night. How she'd insisted that he stay in her room. How she came with him to the procedure this morning. Underneath it all, he could see she was afraid this might be the end for him. She had to spend every last minute she could with him.

He heard the nurses talking around him. "We've removed all metal from the patient. Check the contrast." A nurse came up, smiling at him only briefly before checking his IV bag. It was empty, and she disconnected it from the plastic IV stuck into his arm.

Ideas / Thoughts

• • they are "together" too soon ... he should be pining after her more

  • themes?

    • she's treated better in work and life because of being taller

    • he's treated worse and not respected as much because of being shorter

  • where is it going?

    • (him 5'3", her 6'1" -> 6'6")

    • treatment 'completed', both of them get the all-clear. remorse about separating, until he asks her to come move in with him. she's excited and agrees.

    • we get to see his 'homecoming', people thrilled he's home, but unable to avoid showing their shock that he's lost 6 inches (5'9" -> 5'3"). "small price to pay for being alive".. they are equally shocked by Cindy, 6'1" and at his side. His guy friends flirt with her, but she publicly demonstrates her loyalty.

    • we see Rick try to re-adjust to his job (manager at the local supermarket) .. though his employees challenge his authority much more on account of him being only 5'3".. one girl even flirts with him mockingly

    • Cindy visits a temp agency to get some work... the woman asks her about skills, and she basically has none. she asks about something in retail clothing, as she flips through her file, the girl says they don't place for the mall, she'll have to go herself. She's reading off skills required for each placement "computer skills, nope. managerial experience. nope. honey, I'll tell you, with that body I'd be down at the rusty cat raking it in." (Cindy doesn't know what she means, and some awkward banter reveals it's the local strip joint, which shocks Cindy.) Then the girl comes up with something, "here we go. Light filing and receptionist. You can do that right? Answer phones? Put things where they belong?"

    • When Rick gets home, he's shocked. His place is clean, and something smells great. Cindy made him dinner. She asks him how his day was, and he recounts some of the difficult stories about people treating him different now that he's so short. He devours the food, and then collapses on the couch, tired. She takes off his shoes, seductively relaxes him, crawling onto his lap and rubbing his shoulders. She declares she got a job today. She'll be working as a receptionist for a nearby law office. He says that's great, while he enjoys the massage. "Yeah, it was either that, or dancing at the Rusty Cat. It was a tough call, really." That shocked him, his eyes wide. "What?" ... she taunts him about how this new body might be good for more than she thought. striping her top off, and lap-dancing for him. The whole thing is getting him excited, but worried. He finally stops her, and asks if she's serious. She laughs, explaining that she's just teasing him.

    • She shows up at the law office, in a white blouse and black skirt. During her 'orientation' the lawyer asks her questions she really doesn't know much about. He explains she's just needs to take phone messages, if anyone arrives in person, to push the little call button on her desk. And to always stand when interacting with him or clients. After taking some phone messages vaguely and incorrectly, he's visibly frustrated. He gives her a direct berating about paying attention and putting on her a-game. She goes to the restroom, talks to herself about not wanting to lose the job, gives herself a pep-talk, fluffs her hair, and opens a few buttons of her blouse. She answers the phone with gusto, repeating the request as she writes it clearly. Then she flusters around "what's next"? She looks at the appointment book, and finds today. Sees he has an in-person appointment showing up. When he arrives, she puts on her a-game, rushing to stand and greet him. "Hello, You must be Mr Case, please, come in." She holds he hand out, and as he meets her handshake. "Mr. Landower is on a call at the moment. If you please have a seat, he'll be out in just a few moments. Can I get you anything?" She notices him really checking her out, to which she just shift her posture and smiles. "Water? Coffee?" He nods, and she goes back to her desk, pushing the little button he instructed her to push when someone was waiting. As she sat there flipping through the schedule book, she noticed Mr. Case looking her direction, so she raised her eyes towards him, only to find him abruptly looking away. She found it a little strange, but then a few moments later it happened again. It dawned on her that he was checking her out too. She started to get a little rush of satisfaction, when Mr. Landower came out. "Sir, this is Mr. Case." She quickly released she forgot to stand, and sprouted to her feet with a little too much urgency. "He's here for a 2 o'clock appointment. Here are your messages." Mr. Landower's eyes gave her a once-over, before took the messages, and gestured his client back into his office. --- At the end of the day, Mr. Landower complements her on shaping-up. That she really made an impression on his client, and if she kept it up, she could find herself with a new regular job. 'See you tommorow at eight sharp'

    • -- after dinner one night, she's' cuddling with him on the couch, telling her how happy she is. How a year ago she thought she might be facing paralysis or death, and now she had everything she wanted. Her health, a job, and her amazing boyfriend. He's a bit down on his situation, and makes pot-shot jokes at himself about how her wildest dreams including a near midget boyfriend. "Ohh don't be silly," she comforts him, telling him he's everything she could want. she drags him to the bedroom, and closes the door, where he finds she already installed a height-tape on the door. Surprising him and insisting it's time for a 'marking'. She pushes him against the door, flicking a pencil atop his head, then pulls him and lines herself up against the door. He reaches up,