Meredith's sister

36

Mia's POV

The days following my conversation with Teddy felt like they moved in slow motion. Each step was weighted, every breath a struggle against the fear that lurked just beneath the surface. I went through the motions of my daily life—work, family, pretending that everything was fine—but all the while, the thought of the mass in my brain gnawed at me.

I didn't tell anyone else about the results. I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to say the words, even to my sister's. So, I waited. And waited. Each day felt like a countdown, like I was waiting for something that would shatter everything I thought I knew.

Finally, the call came.

It was late in the afternoon, and I had just finished a long procedure. I was exhausted, the weight of the day settling in my bones. I was packing up my things when my phone buzzed. The caller ID read Jane Walker. My heart skipped a beat, and I answered before the first ring could end.

"Mia," Jane's voice came through, calm but laced with an undercurrent of concern. "We have the results back."

I closed my eyes, bracing myself. I already knew what she was going to say, but hearing it out loud felt like a punch to the gut.

"Is it malignant?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Just long enough to make the silence unbearable.

"Yes," Jane said gently. "I'm sorry, Mia. It is malignant."

The words hit me like a tidal wave, and for a moment, everything went silent. The room around me blurred, the edges of my vision darkening as if the world itself was shutting down. I leaned against the desk for support, my knees suddenly weak.

"Mia?" Jane's voice broke through, a little more urgent now. "Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes, the reality of it all crashing down on me. "No," I whispered, my voice shaking. "I'm not okay."

"Hey," Jane said, her tone softening. "You're not alone in this. We'll make a plan. We'll figure this out, I promise."

But it felt like my world was crumbling. I wanted to hang up, to run, to forget that this conversation had ever happened. But I couldn't. I couldn't escape the truth that had just been handed to me.

"I need to go," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I need to talk to Teddy."

I ended the call without waiting for a response, my hands trembling as I slid the phone back into my pocket. My heart was racing, my mind spinning with the implications of the diagnosis. Malignant. Cancer. The words felt like a foreign language in my mouth, something I couldn't quite comprehend.

I found Teddy in the ER, finishing up a patient's discharge paperwork. She looked up as I walked in, her eyes immediately narrowing in concern when she saw my face.

"Mia?" she asked, standing quickly. "What's wrong?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I felt like I was drowning in the enormity of it all. The mass. The cancer. I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"I... I'm sorry, Teddy," I said, my voice cracking. "I didn't want to tell you, not like this, but—" I stopped, trying to steady myself, but the tears were already threatening to spill.

Teddy stepped toward me, her hands reaching for mine, her grip tight as if grounding me in the moment. "Mia," she said softly, her voice full of warmth and worry. "What's going on? Talk to me."

I took a deep breath, blinking back the tears. "The results came in," I said, barely able to speak the words aloud. "It's malignant. I have cancer, Teddy."

Her face went pale, and for a moment, she looked as if she had been struck by the force of my words. Her grip on my hands tightened, and she pulled me into her arms, holding me close as I let the tears finally fall.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I'm so sorry, Mia. I wish there was something I could do."

"I don't know what to do," I murmured into her shoulder. "I don't know how to fight this. How do I fight something that's inside me? Something so... powerful?"

Teddy held me tighter, her warmth and strength a lifeline in the storm. "You don't have to fight it alone, Mia. We're in this together. I'll be here every step of the way. You don't have to do anything by yourself."

I clung to her, the sobs wracking my body as the weight of the diagnosis threatened to crush me. But in the midst of the fear, I knew one thing: I wasn't alone. Teddy would be by my side, no matter what came next.

And somehow, that thought gave me a flicker of hope, a small but steady light in the darkness.