A few minutes later, my mom and I were sitting together as Dr. Reed entered the room wearing a smile. “Good news, ladies.”
I instantly relaxed.
“The chemo has worked wonders. The tumor is now operable, and we are one more step toward being cancer-free.”
My mom shouted out, “Praise God!” while I just let silent tears of gratitude flow down my face.
“But there’s one small thing,” Dr. Reed said. He was an intelligent man in his late fifties with salt-and-pepper hair. He was kind but also had a slight flat affect to his voice that I was sure someone in this field needed when giving people bad news.
My mother’s hand searched for mine across our seats, and we held on to each other, bracing ourselves.
“The tumor is attached to the kidney like we thought, and it looks like we’ll need to take it out as well.”
I inhaled. The tumor had been so big before that it was pressing on her pancreas and had attached itself to her kidney. The chemo was supposed to shrink it so that we could try to save the organ while also not letting the cancer spread.
“But…one kidney? Can you live a normal life with one kidney? A long, healthy life?” I asked.
Dr. Reed nodded. “You can. And since your mother is over her childbearing years, we don’t worry about a pregnancy stressing one kidney. She doesn’t have diabetes. She’s going to be just fine,” he assured me.
I looked over at my mother, and she gave me a bright smile.
Six months of chemo and radiation had gotten us from a stage four to a stage two. Losing this tumor would probably put her at a stage one, and then we were almost home free after radiation.
Lord, give me strength.
“Okay. If that’s what you think we should do,” I told him.
He nodded. “I do. I’ll also send this recommendation over to the Seattle cancer team and let you know their thoughts as well.” There was a slight annoyance in his tone at that last line. It probably didn’t feel good to have someone babysitting everything you did, but I wanted the best for my mother. Dr. Reed had been a bit annoyed by Jack’s Seattle doctors at first, but then he’d taken it in stride.
“Thank you, Doctor,” I told him.
As we waited for the elevator to head back home, I shot off a text to Jack.
Hannah with two N’s: Mom’s tumor is operable. But they have to take her kidney. Doctor says she should live a normal life with one though.
I waited for his response, something to lighten my mood or bring me comfort, but nothing came. I was starting to wonder if this friendship with Jack was a good idea. I wasn’t thinking of him as a friend anymore. Instead, I longed for something more.
Chapter Twelve
JACK
I stared at Hannah’s text about her mom needing to get her kidney removed in surgery and frowned. What if she died? What if I’d spent the last three months paying for high-profile Seattle doctors and her mother just died on the operating table and then Hannah was all alone? Anxiety over this woman’s health consumed me.
Was she really getting the best care out there in Idaho? Maybe she should come to Seattle for the surgery. Right after Hannah sent the text, I had Chloe check with the private team of doctors I’d hired here, and now I was pacing my office carpet, waiting for her response.
Hannah had also asked me if I would come to town for her concert, and I hated that I had to say no. I would have loved to. I wanted so badly to hear what her singing voice sounded like—and honestly just see her again—but I couldn’t travel easily. Not with having to ask my probation officer every time I crossed state lines.
There was a knock at my office door, and I stopped pacing.
“Come in,” I called out.
Chloe stepped in.
I collapsed into my office chair. “Tell me everything.”
She nodded, pulling out some notes. “Dr. Hughes and the rest of the Seattle team completely agree with Dr. Reed’s plan to operate and remove the tumor and affected kidney.”
I exhaled slowly, calming my heart rate. “Okay, can Dr. Hughes do the surgery here in Seattle? Is it complex?”
