An Angel's Tail

Chapter 34

The next day, we all rode to the hospital together to show our support for Honey. We gave her lots of hugs and wished her the best as they wheeled her off to surgery. Then, we sat in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity, until the doctor came out to let us know she was out of surgery, and we could go see her.

"Hey, Honey Bunny," Brad said as he leaned in and kissed her. "How're you feeling?"

Honey smiled. "I'm okay."

"What did they tell you?" I asked.

"Nothing yet. They did the biopsy. I'm just waiting on the pathology report."

"How's your tail?" Kitty asked.

"She's okay." Honey hugged her tail. "Aren't you, Sweetie?" she said in a cutesy voice. "Yes," she said in a high voice in an adorable attempt to give her tail a voice.

We all laughed softly.

"Where's Shannon?" Honey asked. "Is she still at work?"

"Yeah," said Brad. "She's praying for you."

"Awwww, such a sweetie-pie. I love her so much."

"She loves you, too. She feels really bad that she couldn't be here."

"Awwwww, poor baby. She doesn't have to feel bad."

"That's what I told her, but... you know Shannon."

"Yeah, bless her heart."

Just then, the doctor returned with the news. "Well, the results are in." He sighed. "Honey, I'm afraid it's cancer. Now, the good news is, we can treat it with chemotherapy and radiation. We got as much of the tumor out as we could, but it's already metastasized to the spinal cord. Therefore, chemo and radiation are your best options. The bad news is... you'd have to terminate your pregnancy."

"And... what happens if I don't," asked Honey, "and I waited until I gave birth? How long would I have without treatment?"

"It's hard to say. It's a slow-growing tumor, but you're only seven weeks along. If you were to wait another seven months, the tumor could spread further to other organs in your body, or it could metastasize to the bone, which means treatment would most likely not help as much... which would reduce the amount of time you have significantly. We could treat it now after you terminated the pregnancy, and you'd have a much better chance at survival and possible remission. Waiting could jeopardize that. But, it's up to you. Take some time to think about it, and let us know if you decide to proceed."

"Doctor," said Brad, "do you know what could've caused the cancer?"

"Well, Spinal Cancer is a result of abnormal cells growing out of control. Since Honey was born with a functioning tail, that could be a contributing factor, but it could also just be mere coincidence. We can't say for sure."

"Thank you."

"I'll talk things over with Brad," said Honey.

"Certainly," said the doctor as he left the room.

Honey looked all around the room at each of us, and then, she looked down at her stomach. She felt her heart breaking and sinking into the pit of her stomach. Then, she reached for her phone, and dialed Shannon's number. "Shannon, Sweetheart? I'm out of surgery. Yeah. Yeah, it's cancer." She began to cry when she heard Shannon sobbing. "It's okay, Baby. No, Baby, please don't feel bad, okay? You just finish up at work, and I'll see you when you get home. Awwww, I love you, too, Baby. I love you so much."