Page 53 of Housekeeping

I hesitated as I opened the door and walked in, holding it open for Jessi to follow me in.

“Ah! Laura, you’re here.” Her eyes traveled to Jessi. “And you brought a…”

“Friend,” I finished for her. “This is Jessi. Jessi, this is Dr. Matthew.”

“I’m glad to see you’re coming with someone for once,” she said chidingly.

I shrugged helplessly. “I never thought I’d need to have someone else come with me. They’re only tests.”

Dr. Matthew gave me a disapproving look. Jessi nudged my shoulder, and when I looked over at her, she was giving me the same look.

“Well, anyway. Jessi, I’m glad to meet you,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Likewise,” Jessi said, shaking the doctor’s hand. “Thank you for looking after my friend for this long. If she’d told me before she came to the hospital so often, I would have come earlier.”

Dr. Matthew gave Jessi an approving look before she turned to me.

“Let’s head into the examination room. Do you need me to go through the procedures?”

I shook my head slowly and followed her as she walked into the room attached to her office. I shot a last, almost desperate look at Jessi before the door closed behind us.

“Now,” my doctor started. “Did you do the assignment I asked you to do last time?”

“I did,” I said quietly.

She waited as I lifted up my arm and pointed, too scared to touch. She gave me a sympathetic look and stepped closer to me.

“Take off your coat, please, and sit on the examination table.”

I did as instructed then raised my arm once more without being told. She looked off to the side with a frown as she felt the area I’d pointed to. Then she had me raise my other arm and gave that area the same attention. Finally, she felt both areas at the same time. I kept my eyes on her face, waiting for a change in her expression, but she kept it blank this time. She frowned when she came into contact with what I’d found.

“It’s good that you found it,” she said. “I only caught traces of it in your last test. This is not an ordinary lump.”

That wasn’t very encouraging, but I knew she wouldn’t be. She wasn’t the type to lie or give false hope, and I both liked and disliked that trait. I knew if I’d never had cancer before and she’d caught it, she wouldn’t be as alarmed and would have given some words of encouragement. But because it wasn’t my first time, it increased the chances of the lump I found being a cancerous cell.

“This is something we have to worry about,” she said with a sigh, pulling back. “I wasn’t sure when I looked you over last time. You’ve had years of being cancer free, so I’d hoped… but we need to get this lump investigated.”

She pulled her gloves off and tossed them into the trash, then waited for me to put on my coat and follow her to where Jessi was still waiting. She hadn't even sat down, she looked like she’d been pacing around the room. She looked up when we both walked in, and at my bleak expression, her face fell.

“We need to have some tests done,” Dr. Matthew said. “Please sit down, and I’ll explain some things to you.”

My body shook even more as I moved to one of the seats opposite the doctor at her desk. Jessi had to hold me by the arms to help me down into it. I didn’t want further tests because I knew they’d hurt. Also, it was pretty much a confirmation that my ordeal had begun once again.

Jessi took the seat closest to me and reached for me to pull me into her arms. Having her comfort was such a blessing, and I stopped acting strong. I broke down crying and Dr. Matthew, wonderful woman that she was, let me have my time to cry as she put in orders for all the tests that I would need in the near, uncertain future.