Vibrations

Chapter 15

It's done... I thought to myself as I stared at the floor of the hospital. My thoughts were interrupted by the doctor coming in the door.

He pulled his mask down and looked at each of us as we all looked to him in horror and hope. His face was grave, serious.

He put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath and I felt my heart start beating faster...

She's dead! The voice screamed in the back of my mind, a cackle of mad laughter escaping his jester's face...

The doc gave a half smile, "She's in recovery now..."

You could feel the collective sigh spread through the room...

My dad stepped forward, "What was it? How serious?"

I saw that concerned look come back over the doctor's face and realized then that just by her coming out of surgery we were not out of the woods yet...

He shook his head, "We're not sure. It was the weirdest damn thing I've even seen. There was a large mass in her throat, and at the bottom, this weird little tendril that kind of worked its way down to her thyroid... like it was some sort of thyroid growth."

Re pushed her way to the front, "Is that normal?"

I felt a moment of annoyance that I smashed down as I avoided snapping at her for asking such a stupid question. If it were normal he wouldn't be saying it was the weirdest damn thing he'd ever seen...

The doc looked at her, "No. It's not. I've seen thyroid growths before, but nothing that's migrated like this. Occasionally you'll see a little tendril, but this was two, maybe three inches of growth before it bloomed out."

"What does it mean?" My dad asked cautiously.

The doc turned to him, "Right now? We don't know. We're sending it off to the pathology lab. Could just be a weird growth, could be something more serious."

Dad's eyes narrowed, "Something more serious as in cancer?"

The doc looked at him with sympathy in his eyes...

I could tell what he was thinking, even if he didn't want to admit it. My mom has cancer...

"Yeah, maybe." He hedged.

"What happens then?" I finally spoke up.

The doc looked at me, "Well. It depends on what we find with the pathology report. If there is cancer, we'll evaluate the risk and decide if we take the thyroid out, or just a part of it. Then, depending on the cancer risk, radiation therapy or chemo..."

My heart sank into my stomach...

Casey's hand found mine as Re found her way under dad's arm.

The doc looked at each of in turn, "Folks. I don't want to give you false hope, but all of that is down the road... focus on today. She's out, and awake. We're going to bring her back in a few minutes and you can visit for a little while, but you all need to clear out in a little while, and let her get some rest. Focus on the fact that today, she's here, and doing well. Okay?"

We each nodded...