how pretty she was [jyler]

part four

jenna's heart stopped. "what's the good news?"

"i think you might want to hear the bad part first," dr. pieters replied. she turned the monitor so jenna could see the screen, even though they both knew jenna couldn't tell what was wrong. "the tissue looks fine in your left breast, but in your right, can you see how it's all cloudy?"

"yeah."

"as of right now, that could be some sort of cancer."

her hands were the next body part to register the fear. jenna's skin turned cold and clammy, and suddenly, the office seemed foreign. "what can we do about it?"

"if it is cancer," dr. pieters started, "because of the added hormones and implant, we would have to surgically remove it."

"and if it isn't?"

"it might be an infection in the implant, or something completely different. i won't know until i can get a tissue sample."

jenna nodded, because it was the only thing she could do. "if they are removed, can i- will i-"

"it would take a few years to wait for your body to accept new implants."

"i spent so long," jenna muttered, voice slipping as tears threatened to fall. "i spent so much time trying to fix my body, and this is what i get?"

"i'm more concerned about how the cancer got there in the first place," dr. pieters continued. "are you still on hormone therapy?"

"i can't stop it," she whispered, "if i stop in the next two years, it won't work-"

"your medication could have carried a disease into your blood, where it later progressed into cancer. i'm sorry, mrs. joseph, but you'll have to stop everything and treat this, or you could lose your life."