Chapter 4 - What The Scan Showed
Dr. Patel returned shortly after sunrise.
Sophie was awake.
I hadn’t slept.
He pulled a chair closer.
“The infection is responding well.”
I exhaled.
“But?”
He glanced at Sophie.
Her face became still.
“The last scan showed the primary masses responding to treatment.”
“That sounds good.”
“It is.”
Then came the part we had both feared.
“There’s an area near the spleen that needs another look.”
Sophie stared at him.
“Progression?”
“We don’t know.”
Those three words destroyed the relief before it could settle.
Dr. Patel explained that inflammation could resemble disease activity.
He wanted another PET scan once the infection cleared.
Sophie listened calmly.
Too calmly.
After he left, she stared at the ceiling.
“You can go.”
“I’m not going.”
“Ethan.”
“No.”
Her jaw tightened.
“This is exactly what I didn’t want.”
“What?”
“You turning my cancer into your redemption project.”
The accusation hit home because part of it was true.
I wanted to fix something.
I wanted a mission.
A checklist.
A measurable objective.
Cancer offered none of those things.
“I don’t know how to fix this.”
“Good.”
I stared at her.
She turned toward me.
“Because you need to stop trying.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
Her voice strengthened.
“You always need to fix the thing that hurts.”
“And if you can’t fix it, you leave.”
I flinched.
She continued.
“You did it after the miscarriages.”
“You did it during deployment.”
“You did it when we came home to each other.”
“And then you fixed our marriage by ending it.”
Each sentence landed exactly where it was meant to.
I looked down.
“What do you want from me?”
Her answer came immediately.
“Stay when it’s uncomfortable.”
I looked at her.
“Stay when there’s nothing useful for you to do.”
“Stay when I’m angry.”
“Stay when I don’t forgive you.”
“Stay without making me responsible for making you feel better.”
I nodded.
“I can do that.”
She gave me a sad look.
“You’ve always been good at promising things before battle.”
“That’s fair.”
“No, Ethan.”
Her eyes filled.
“It’s devastating.”
A knock interrupted us.
A woman stepped into the room.
She was carrying Sophie’s overnight bag.
I recognized her immediately.
Sophie’s older sister, Rachel.
Rachel saw me.
Her expression turned cold.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“Rachel.”
“No.”
Rachel dropped the bag onto the chair.
“He doesn’t get to walk back in because cancer finally made him feel something.”
I stood.
“I’m not asking anyone to forgive me.”
“Good.”
She stepped closer.
“Because Sophie almost begged me not to call you when she started chemotherapy.”
My chest tightened.
“Almost?”
Rachel laughed without humor.
“You want to know why she changed her mind?”
Sophie sat up.
“Rachel, don’t.”
But Rachel was already looking straight at me.
May you like
“Because the night before her first treatment, she wrote you a letter.”
And suddenly Sophie looked terrified.
