The Christmas Wedding Ring (Hqn) by Susan Mallery

Author:Susan Mallery [Mallery, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

She was shaking, but not so much that she couldn’t talk. Molly drew in a breath. There, she’d said it. So far Dylan hadn’t run, but that was probably because he was still in shock.

“I was doing my monthly breast self-exam,” she said. “I do them regularly. When I first started doing them I was scared because I didn’t want to find anything. I know that sounds weird, because if I’m checking, then I’m sort of accepting the fact that there could be a lump. But after a few months, it’s like you forget.”

She shook her head. “Sorry. I’m getting off the point.”

“It’s okay,” he said, his voice low and quiet. “Tell the story however you see fit.”

When she’d first come in the bedroom, she’d clicked on the lamp on her nightstand. The light spilled across most of the bed and the floor, but much of Dylan was in shadow, including his face. She was having trouble reading his expression, but part of that could be because she didn’t really want to know what he was thinking. She’d done a lot of reading on the subject and she knew that many men couldn’t handle the thought of a woman in their lives being sick. She braced herself for that kind of reaction.

“I was moving my fingers around my breast when I felt something,” she said. She had to will herself to stay calm. Just talking about it brought the fear back. She remembered the horror that had filled her when she’d found the lump. She’d been so scared she’d thought she was going to throw up. Even now it was difficult not to curl up in a ball and give in to the panic.

“I called my doctor and they got me in that day. She examined me. At first she thought it might be a cyst.” She looked at him expectantly.

He shook his head. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s generally harmless. Cysts grow in the breast. They’re sacs that fill up with fluid. They’re painful, but not a big problem. Usually the doctor can use a needle to aspirate them—you know, remove the fluid. But my lump wasn’t a cyst. There wasn’t any fluid. The next step was a mammogram.”

She didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to remember the cold terror of that day or the pressure of the mammography equipment pressing down on her. She’d cried during the procedure. Not because it hurt but because she was so afraid and so alone.

“Afterward my doctor still wasn’t sure, so she suggested a procedure to remove the lump, but they couldn’t schedule it until after the long weekend. It would be examined right then and she would let me know what it was. That was scheduled for Tuesday, the week after Thanksgiving.”

Molly wrapped her arms around her chest and tried to force a smile. She didn’t know how it looked, but she had a feeling it failed completely. She wanted to run away. Leave behind all the fear and the questions.

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