Scenes From a Soap Opera

A Life Changing Diagnosis

Mariah and Tessa had settled into married life. If they had to be honest nothing between them had really changed, except for their titles. Calling themselves a wife was not something either woman took lightly. Tessa had left for her tour ten days ago and Mariah missed her wife tremendously. The night before she left, the couple made love passionately for hours, trying to soak in as much time together as possible. Mariah had been following along with all updates from the tour. Newman Media even gave her a glowing review in their music news section.

Mariah was just about to leave for work when she got a phone call from her wife. She smiled before answering; she always loved hearing from Tessa. That smile quickly turned into a frown when Tessa started speaking. "Hey babe, so I'm coming home early." 

"What? It's only been ten days. Did something happen with the tour?" 

"No, the tour is fine. It's me." Tessa could feel the tears starting to form. "That sour throat I got in Paris hasn't gone away. It's only gotten worse. My voice gave out on me and one of the roadies had to wake me up last night so I could perform. The doctor here is very worried and he wants me to see my personal doctor." That doctor being Dr. Nate Hastings. His surgical career might have ended thanks to Devon, but his private practice was thriving. 

"Oh God Tessa, I'm so sorry. I know how much you were looking forward to this tour." And she meant it too. This tour was supposed to be the start of Tessa's comeback not another setback.

"Yeah." Tessa answered in a sad tone of voice. "Hopefully, Nate can find out what's wrong and clear me so I can rejoin the tour." 

"I hope so too. Let me know when you land and I'll come meet you at the airport." Tessa started to argue, but Mariah stood firm. This was a devastating blow and she wanted to be there for her wife. The singer sighed knowing she had been defeated and told her wife her flight details. 

Mariah waited anxiously for Tessa to arrive at the airport; she was literally pacing in the terminal. She had wanted to tell Sharon what was going on, but Tessa begged her not to. The musician didn't want to worry more people unless she had to. Hearing how scared Tessa sounded made Mariah agree though she was against it. Normally Tessa wouldn't mind Nick, Sharon and the others knowing, but Sharon had already been through so much the past couple of months...why add to her stress if she didn't have to?

Tessa got off the plane and ran straight into Mariah's arms. The couple kissed throwing every emotion they could into it. "Hey there." Tessa awkwardly greeted her wife once they finished kissing. She wasn't sure what else to say. 

"Hey." Mariah greeted back in a shaky voice. Both women were trying and failing to swallowing their nerves. "Did you talk to Nate about when your appointment is?"  Tessa had to chuckle, that was her wife, direct and straight down to business. 

"It's this afternoon. Nate wanted to see me as soon as possible." Tessa answered. Mariah nodded and drove her wife to a diner on the outskirts of town. Tessa raised her eyebrow in confusion. 

"You didn't want anyone to know. I figured staying out of the usual spots was a good way to do that." Mariah explained. Tessa nodded in understanding. She didn't want to worry anyone until there was something to worry about. Both women forced themselves to eat, trying to make small talk to pass the time. Before they knew it was time to head to the hospital. 

Tessa had been through every test for throat pain that she could imagine over the next few days. Nate wanted to help his friend get the answers that she desperately needed. He knew how scary it was to wait to see if something was wrong with your health. The married couple and their doctor prayed for good news as they waited for the test results to come in. Nate had put Tessa's results on rush as a favor. The results in question came to his desk bright and earlier one morning. Dr. Hastings read the results, growing increasingly concerned by the minute. He needed to talk to Tessa at once.

An hour later Tessa and Mariah were sitting in Nate's office waiting for him to come in. He had gotten called away on a consultation right before they got there. Based on the abruptness of the phone call and Nate's slightly panicked tone, they knew it could not be good news. Each woman was zoned out in their world when they heard the office door open and close. They turned to see Nate running in apologizing for keeping them waiting. The worried newlyweds brushed off his apology just wanting answers.

Nate sat down behind his desk taking a deep breath; he was about to deliver devastating news to two wonderful people. "Tessa" he started trying to compose himself, "I have your test results and I am very sorry to say that we did not get the answer we wanted." Tessa braced herself for the worst, she should have known that this was coming. Things had been too good for too long, the other shoe had to drop. "Tessa, you have throat cancer." And there it was... the shoe hit the ground and shattered it.

Mariah stared at Tessa with tears in her eyes; she was trying not to cry and make Tessa even more upset. Tessa was staring blankly at the wall behind Nate; her mind was completely empty. She was slowly processing this news and what it meant for her. She could not bring herself to look at Mariah; any composure she had would be gone and even though Nate would not mind, she did not want to lose it in his office. Nate wanted to give Tessa a moment to process this life altering news before continuing going over the results.

"Tessa. Tessa?" Nate called out her name to get her attention. Tessa heard Nate and snapped her eyes over to him; she stared at him with no emotion or feeling. She could barely feel Mariah grabbing her hand to give her a supportive hand squeeze. The singer tried to form words, but for whatever reason they just would not come out. Mariah noticed this and asked Nate to finish what he had to say.

"The good news is that we caught the cancer early." Mariah and Tessa perked up at this development. "If we get you started on treatment right away, you have an excellent chance of making a full recovery. The treatment plan would be four months of radiation therapy. I will give you some time to decide what you want to do, but I must stress that you not take too long. The sooner we start treatment, the better your chances are." Mariah thanked Nate for taking the time to speak to them and for breaking the news gently, Tessa nodded in agreement, words were still not coming to her. Nate simply said that no thanks were necessary, and he wished Tessa the best of luck as they stood up to leave his office.

Nate watched the heartbroken couple leave his office and he truly wished Tessa the best. He wanted her to beat this cancer so badly. Tessa turned to Mariah, finally gaining the ability to speak again, "This stays between us for now okay? Sharon and the others have enough going on without worrying about me." 

"What happens when they ask why you left the tour early? Because they will ask." Mariah questioned her wife. She didn't want to disrespect her wishes, but at the same she thought she could use the family support, they both could. 

"We'll tell them my nodules reappeared, I had a bout of exhaustion, I fell off the stage and got a concussion. We'll come up with something. I just know that I can't deal with everyone right now. I just want to start my treatment." Tessa was firm in this. Once things died down, she would break the news to her family, but for now she just wanted to go to bed with her wife and stay there forever.