He glanced at the students as they left, like he wanted to speak in private. Then he turned to look at me.
“She’s my assistant,” Derek explained. “Don’t mind her.”
The student turned back to him. “I wanted to talk about my exam.” He pulled it out of his backpack and set it down.
Derek didn’t look at the paper, like he knew exactly what his score was without checking. “I’m glad you brought it up. I want to talk about it too.”
When I’d graded his exams, most of the students got the answers right. They missed a few here and there. But one student flunked the entire thing. Must have been this one.
Derek examined him, and instead of wearing his innately hostile gaze, his look was a little soft. “What happened, man? It was obvious that your math didn’t incorporate the theory at all.” He kept his arms crossed over his chest, but he regarded the student almost like a father would a son, disappointed rather than angry.
Mr. Wyatt was quiet for a while, his head bowed, and he gave a quiet sigh. “I’ve just got a lot of problems in my personal life right now. My mom was diagnosed—” He stopped talking, like he couldn’t finish.
Derek’s eyes shifted back and forth as he looked into his face, his features falling. “I’m so sorry, Bryan.”
He took a second to gather himself before he continued to speak. “Her cancer came back. A couple years ago, a few rounds of chemo were enough, but it’s back…and it’s worse. And my family doesn’t have the money. It nearly bankrupted us last time.”
He closed his eyes for a second.
“I need to get a job to help my family, Dr. Hamilton. I can’t handle this workload and do that at the same time.”
Derek shook his head. “I got you that internship with NASA. It’s an opportunity you can’t miss. I know you want to pick up a job to help your family, but you’ll be able to help your family so much more if you stick to it. I’ll work with you on this, Bryan. I’ll let you retake the exam.”
“That’s very kind, Dr. Hamilton. But…I gotta be there for my mom. I need that money now, and the internship is unpaid.”
Derek dropped his hands to his sides. “What kind of cancer is it?”
He took a long time to answer, like it was too hard. “Lung cancer.”
Derek gave a slight nod. “I know the best oncologist in the world who specializes in this. He’ll take care of her.”
Bryan took a deep breath like he was on the verge of a breakdown. “Again, that’s really kind, but I can’t afford it. We tried getting a loan, but they denied us—”
“They offer financial grants to patients every year. You will qualify. Don’t worry about the money, Bryan.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at his professor. There was a long pause. “I…I don’t know what to say.” He started to breathe harder then wiped his palm over his face, like his cheeks were wet with tears.
Derek placed his hand on his shoulder. “You can stay in my class, get that grade up, and do your internship at NASA.”
He sniffed loudly and nodded. “Yeah…okay.”
“I’ll give you a call when I have all the specifics.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hamilton… Thank you.” Bryan shouldered his bag and walked out.
Derek watched him go before he turned his gaze to his desk and released a heavy sigh, his eyes closing for a bit. After a few seconds of stillness, he gathered his scattered papers and put them in his bag before he prepared to walk out. He didn’t look at me.
I followed him out the door and into the hallway. His phone was in his hand, and he scrolled through it as he headed to the car. When we made it outside, Ronnie was at the curb waiting for us. Derek got inside.
I got into the seat beside him, and the car drove away. I glanced at Derek beside me but didn’t say a word, knowing he wasn’t in the mood to talk right now…not that he was ever in the mood.
Derek hit a button on his phone then pressed the device to his ear. It rang.
I could hear over the line as clearly as if the phone were pressed to my own ear.
A man answered. “Hey, little man.” Affection was deep in his voice.
Derek had the same short fuse as he had before, too upset to mask his mood. “Dad, I need a favor…”
I turned my gaze and stared at Derek, watched him look out the window as he spoke to his father.
“Anything, Derek. What is it?”
“I have a student who’s struggling in my class…”
My heart started to race when I realized how Derek knew this genius oncologist.
Derek continued. “He told me his mother has lung cancer. She had it before and chemo was successful, but it’s come back. All her medical bills almost bankrupted them the first time, and they can’t afford treatment a second time. My student intends to drop out and get a job to help, but…I can’t let him do that. He’s too brilliant to drop out and miss out on the internship I got him at NASA.”