"Damon! Damon!" I shouted running down the stairs, tears were in my eyes.
Set back. Who knew those two words could make it feel like your world was starting to crumble. My mother had made so much progress, it seemed like she was finally coming out of this. Now it sounded like we were going back to day one. I wasn't sure how bad this set back was but I needed to get to the hospital to find out.
"What's wrong?" He asked abruptly getting up from the couch.
"I need to go to the hospital. It's my mom. I'm going to be out later than the curfew time." I explained through my sobs.
He had a look of concern on his face. "That's okay, I'll drive you."
We headed back into the garage and got into his car. He sped off, trying to get me there as quick as he could. I stared out of the window as he drove. I couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes, but I tried to control any sobs that would escape my lips. I needed to try to be strong for my mother.
"It's going to be okay Love." Damon tried to reassure me.
"You don't know that. There's no possible way to know that." I responded.
I know he was trying to help, but I couldn't give myself any false hope. I was sitting in his black BMW feeling like the child I was when I lost my father. The same feeling I had when I had first found out I needed to return home to care for her. I hated this feeling so much. It was something out of my control and I didn't like that.
We arrived at the hospital and I practically ran out of the car once it was parked. Damon was following closely behind me. He caught me by the arm, turning me to face him. "Hospitals are busy, we need to go in calmly." he spoke.
I nodded, he was right. Running in could put myself and others in danger. He held my hand tightly as he helped lead me to my mother's room. Her doctor was standing outside of the door waiting for me to arrive.
"Hello Ms. Bush." The grey haired doctor spoke.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Follow me please." He started walking to a room to break the news of what's going on privately.
I didn't let go of Damon's hand as I followed the doctor. "Are you sure you want me to come?" Damon asked.
"Yes." I responded, still dragging him behind me.
We got into the room and the doctor shut the door behind us. I took a seat in the room and Damon too the one beside me. The doctor sat in front of us and was trying to figure out how to put whatever he was going to say into words. Thinking that much on what to say meant it had to be worse than it sounded on the phone.
"The cancer has progressed, aggressively." He finally spoke. "She may have anywhere between a few weeks to a couple months. It depends on how fast it spreads."
Tears started escaping again. "I thought she was getting better?" I asked.
"The medicine was working, but the cancer has adapted and completely taken over her pancreas." He explained.
"So remove it then." Damon spoke for me.
"It's not that simple right now. We would like to try to give her a few days to gain any strength and we can attempt surgery to remove the pancreas. Right now she is too weak and we don't think she'd make it through." The doctor responded.
I immediately broke down. I was losing my mom, she was all the family I had left. I felt Damon's arms pull me close to him. I couldn't respond at this point to anything the doctor had said.
"You'll give her five days, and if you don't intend to do the surgery to save Ms. Bush I will get a doctor who will." Damon's tone was stern towards the doctor.
"And who are you to my patient?" The doctor seemed frustrated with Damon's tone.
"My apology, I should have introduced myself. I'm Damon Tipton, her soon to be son in law." He responded.
The Doctor's demeanor changed after finding out who Damon was. "I will do everything we can Mr. Tipton." The doctor tried to reassure.
"Good, are we able to visit with her now?" Damon asked.
"Yes." The doctor had answered.
Damon grabbed my hand once more, taking me out of the room and to my mother. She greeted me with a tired smile. She looked weak, I hated seeing her like this. I just wanted to have my mom back again. Healthy and happy, like she had been.
"Hey." She spoke.
I pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "I heard from the doctor what's going on."
Her smile faded and I could see the tears in her eyes. "I'm so sick of fighting. Every time I take a step forward it's like I end up taking like ten steps back. I don't know how much longer I can fight Kaydence."
I grasped her hand tightly. "You have to keep going mom. For me."
"I'm trying honey, the best that I can." she responded.
Are you letting them do the surgery?" I asked.
She nodded, "Only if they can. If not then we have to accept what happens Kaydence."
"I need a minute." I left the room to let myself break down.
Damon followed me again, he refused to leave me right now. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little grateful for his support. I was used to dealing with this stuff on my own. It was nice to have someone to lean on. He pulled me into a hug and let me cry.
I finally pulled away and looked up at him. He wiped my tears with his thumb. I broke the eye contact we had. "I guess if she's gone that means this." I paused for a moment. "I guess this binding agreement you call it can end and you can get on with your life."
I was grateful for his support, but I hadn't forgotten how we started this. We were just with each other because he was helping me out. If she died he'd get reimbursed the money that he had put down. With the little bit he had paid I assumed this month of our agreement would be enough to cover it.
He made my green eyes look into his icy blue ones. "No. It doesn't work like that." He responded.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Kaydence, I think we both know this is going past just being an agreement." He answered.