Love, Cass by Stephanie St. Klaire

Author:Stephanie St. Klaire [St. Klaire, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The SSK Group

9

The beginning of the end…

I woke up to a familiar squeeze around my arm, the sound of beeping machines, and sterile smelling sheets. I was in the hospital. Everything was a blur. I vaguely remembered a pinch in my chest and opening my eyes to see Liam running with me in his arms before he climbed into the back of an ambulance. I’d question if that last part really happened, but I knew my husband.

I also remembered the look on his tear-stained face. A sharp stab of emotion caught in my throat as that image played back in my head. It was devastating. I didn’t remember anything else. I had no idea how long I’d been in that room, or what hospital I was in. Wherever I was, I hadn’t been here before. I didn’t recognize a thing.

To my left was a large window along with a wall full of cabinets and drawers with all of the typical medical contraptions protruding from the wall at my head — every hospital room had them, but I’d never seen any of those things used. Maybe that was a good thing. To my right, there was a floor-to-ceiling glass wall with a sliding door. It was dimly lit in my room, but I could see clearly beyond the glass wall.

A waiting room full of O’Reillys sat right outside. In true family fashion, the men were pacing aimlessly, stopping to look at their watches with every lap they made, while the women were seated together on the couches, comforting one another. They were worried. About me. That was pretty simple to conclude since I was in here while they were all out there. I wished I’d known what had happened — what I’d done to worry them.

I could see the dark night sky as I gazed past the foot of my bed. How long had I been in here? It hadn’t been dark at dinner.

Liam came into view, Dr. Mendoza at his side. My poor disheveled husband looked so distraught, and it was because of me. The guilt made me feel ill. They didn’t come in my room, so they must not have known I was awake. They also didn’t know my door was partly open and I could hear every word they said.

“It metastasized,” Dr. Mendoza said, “and spread rapidly this time, despite our aggressive efforts. The scar tissue left from radiation is causing inflammation, allowing the cancer to spread quicker. The stronger the treatment, the sicker she gets, and the faster this spreads. She’s too weak to fight it like last time.”

“Okay. So, we switch her treatment to something else. Something less aggressive, something that doesn’t make her as sick and weak, right?”

“Unfortunately, there isn’t anything like that, Liam.”

“What about those trials I read about for cases like this? I emailed them to you…” Liam was desperate, and it crushed me. “Maybe we…”

Dr. Mendoza put a hand on Liam’s shoulder. “I’m recommending we stop all treatment.”

“Wait. Why? Maybe that hippy shit, cannabis or whatever…we haven’t tried all that,” Liam pled.

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