A friendly face

At the far end of the hospital hallway I see a man with an IV pole talking to a doctor. It's my man and one of his many doctors. Today isn't a good day, that I already know by Kenji's numerous phone calls.
I approach them right as they are done and follow Kenji into his room. I haven't taken my seat or another doctor enters: the hematologist we have been seeing from day one. He is as upfront as ever - which is only partially reassuring. Yet
his attitude is exactly why we choose him as The Doctor.

As a nurse is busy with Kenji's central line for a while, I decide to get some coffee downstairs. Today is an unlimited coffee day, that I already know too.
On my way up in the elevator I see a friendly face. A familiar face. A face that gives me the hope I so desperately need. The face of Kenji's favorite doctor in the old hospital, the place where our nightmare started. He immediately recognizes me as 'the wife of' and skips the doctor-patient ethics entirely. We talk. He offers to visit Kenji, even though he isn't working on the oncology ward anymore.

And with the previous doctor by his bedside - the one who always knew how to calm Kenji down, who could draw blood from his smashed veins when no one else could and who knows Kenji's sad story from the very beginning - I hear Kenji say: "I am still here." A phrase only the three of us can fully conceive.