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I cut my gaze to Tam immediately. “You didn’t.”
She held up her hands in defense. “I mean, you didn’t say not to.”
“Stop it, kids,” Mom said. “Why are you keeping things from us, Bennie?”
“I… didn’t know how you’d feel about me seeing someone new. I didn’t know howIfelt about seeing someone new.”
“And now?” Mom prompted.
“I love him.”
Mom smiled at me. “Then you need to tell him as soon as possible.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but there was a knock at the door before I could say anything. We all looked over to see Dr. Lockhart walk in.
“Jaclyn, how are you feeling?”
Mom smiled, but I could see the pain in her eyes as she struggled to sit up a little straighter. “I’m good.”
He nodded. “Good. Listen, I want to cut right to the chase. Your treatment is progressing, but not as quickly as we’d hoped.”
My stomach sank and my chest tightened as if I’d had the air knocked out of me.
Tam opened her mouth to speak, but the doctor kept talking. “That said, I’ve been submitting your case to several trials that are accepting new patients. They’ve accepted you into one that’s happening just up in Washington, DC. It is a university hospital, so there would be students working your case as well as established doctors, but the cost of treatment will be covered in full by the entity funding the research trial. I know you were cost-conscious in our previous discussions, so I wanted to be sure to mention that, in case it impacts your decision-making process.”
Mom’s eyes widened as he spoke, and when he finished, her lower lip was trembling. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, ma’am. The trial accepted you, so the spot is yours, if you want it. And I spoke to the researchers this morning—they’ve agreed to let you begin next week.”
“What’s the catch?” Mom asked.
The doctor smiled. “Excellent question. The catch is that you’d need to be in Washington, DC for treatments regularly, including getting your scans done in addition to having your medication administered there. It’s travel-heavy, unless you plan to move.”
Mom nodded and exhaled a shaky breath. “I understand and I accept. We’ll figure out the travel thing and the living arrangements this afternoon.” Then she turned to me. “Now, let’s figure out how to solve your problem.”
“Which one?” I asked miserably.
“You need to go talk to that man of yours. He clearly cares about you.”
“But helied, Mom. At least by omission.”
Tam cleared her throat. “Did you tell him how poor we were growing up?”
I frowned. “A little. I didn’t get too far into the details.”
“Well…”
“Well, what?”
She shook her head. “For an older brother, you sure can be kind of a dumbass sometimes. It’s not like we all go telling everyone our business on the first date. You didn’t want him judging you over the money we grew up with, right? Well, it’s not fair of you to judge him for that, either.”
I bit my lip, a sinking feeling in my stomach. She was right, of course. I was sure she was right. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.
“Now, go get your man back,” Mom said.
When I hesitated, Tam spoke again. “Now, Bennie.”
I nodded again and left in a hurry, hoping I wasn’t too late.
