For years, I had pushed my body too far, using alcohol to bury my demons when I had wanted nothing more than to disappear from the world.
Back then, I had been drinking myself into oblivion without caring what it might do to me.
And now here I was.
The consequences had finally caught up.
The irony made me shake my head bitterly.
When the second doctor had confirmed the diagnosis, the last fragile thread of denial snapped inside me.
This was real.
There was no escaping it.
I needed to accept what was happening, and I needed to make important decisions… the kind that forced me to come to terms with this diagnosis.
There were things in my life that needed to be handled.
Resolutions that had to be made while I still had time.
I did not know how long I had.
But I needed a plan.
45
JIYA
Two days later, Dr. Mitchell called again and asked us to come in.
As soon as we stepped into his office, the look on his face made my stomach roll instantly. A cold, sinking feeling spread through me as dread gripped my chest. I could not even begin to imagine what the results might be, but something about the way he avoided our eyes told me it was not going to be good.It felt like my entire world was already starting to crack.
“I’m afraid the news is not better than the last time,” he said. “We got the results of the biopsy.”
I squeezed Cole’s hand and licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry.Dear God, please let it not be bad news.
“It’s stage four liver cancer, and it has spread to other parts of the body.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.My heart started racing uncontrollably, my pulse thundering in my ears. The room seemed to tilt around me as the strength drained from my body. My muscles went limp, and my hands began to tremble in his.
This couldn’t be real.
This couldn’t be happening.
“What does this mean?” I asked, my voice breaking despite my effort to stay composed. “What can we do to treat this?”
“Chemotherapy will not work at this point,” the doctor said, lowering his eyes briefly before looking back at us.
The finality in his voice shattered me completely.
Before I could even process it, Cole spoke.
“How much time do I have?”
I whipped my head toward him as the question cut straight to the core of me.
Time?How could he ask that so calmly?How could he already be thinking like that when I was still trying to breathe through the shock?
