Chapter 5
Monday morning, as I sat on my borrowed penthouse balcony with my laptop, I called Dr. Fred Bronfeld’s office. He came on the line after the nurse I spoke to transferred me to his extension.
“Felix, I’m glad you called,” he said after greeting me. “Your uncle’s not well.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself. I knew it. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I heard him shuffle some papers. “He came to me last month because of stomach pain. We ran some tests, and did a scan. It’s stomach cancer, Felix. Terminal. He has maybe five months to live.”
My heart felt like lead. “Jesus, doc. How…it was that advanced already?”
“You know how Ben is. Illness is a sign of weakness to him. So he must have been in some serious pain to even think of coming to see me.” I heard him si
