The Unexpected Journey Part Two

Chapter 19

She couldn't believe it. Even as she sat there listening to the doctor tell her the results, as she confirmed the dark, sick suspicion that had settled in her stomach–she couldn't believe it.

Cancer.

Her eyes pressed closed as her heart hammered in her chest, in her ears, in her throat. Her fingers pulled from Harry's hand and pressed to her temples, stretching around the arm of her chair as she tried to catch her breath, as she tried to catch herself.

There were words floating around the room as the doctor continued to speak. Words she had known for a long time, words she had learned when her father had become sick.

Chemotherapy.

Radiation.

Oncologist.

But there were new words, words that she knew, words that were about to become hers.

Mastectomy.

Reconstruction.

"Wait..." Her voice, just like she, was soft and weak and breathless. Opening her eyes, she lifted her hand. "Wait. I just...wait."

It was like she had pressed pause on the world around her. The doctor's words fell silent, the chaos in her brain fluttered to a stop, and for a moment it even sounded as though the clocks had stopped ticking.

Or maybe that was her heart stalling in her chest.

"Ma'am?" The doctor across from her sat tall and steady in her chair. This was far from the first time she had delivered this news–but it never became routine. It never became easy.

Swallowing at the dryness in her throat, Maddie moved to the edge of her chair, her eyes focused only on the doctor, very purposefully avoiding looking to her husband–knowing that if she did, it just might take down every ounce of will she had left.

"Time?" Maddie whispered. "How much time do I have?"

"Time?" The doctor repeated as she sat back in her chair, her head shaking at Maddie. "Ma'am, we won't be able to 'Stage' your cancer until we remove the tissue and some of the lymph nodes surrounding the area. But like I said, if we attack it quickly and aggressively, we're not necessarily looking at a matter of..."

"No," Maddie shook her head, her eyes closing again as her stomach turned, as her heart felt like it was slipping from her chest. "No. I mean...how much time do I have before I have to...do all of these things? There are people to tell and...Oh God..." Her hands pressed to her stomach as her eyes welled up and just as her world started to spin at the idea of telling her family and friends this horrible news, she could feel Harry's hand on her back.

Calm and steady and there.

"When does it all have to start?" Maddie whispered.

"Well," the doctor put her pen down atop her pad of paper, her hands folding in her lap as she looked across the desk, leveling with Maddie and Harry. "As you're more than aware, expediency is of the essence. The sooner we attack this, the harder we attack this, the higher rate we have of remission, the higher rate we have of survival."

Maddie could almost feel Harry's heart break next to her.

"Yes," Maddie nodded, her voice barely audible.

"That being said," the doctor took a deep breath. "I would like to schedule a meeting with a treatment team; an oncologist, a radiologist, a plastic surgeon who is a colleague of mine who would assist me in the surgery. We would discuss your treatment options, answer any questions you might have. We would make a solid plan and then put it into motion."