Trust in Love

Chapter 1

Justine Blake spent a lot of time at her doctor's office. She always felt like she was coming down with something or had a rare disease that no one had ever heard of. Her doctor usually never found anything wrong with her, but this time it was serious. She was having chest pains and she felt like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. She was afraid something was really wrong and that made her anxiety level shoot through the roof.

She was normally a calm, competent person. She was the assistant to a noted professor at the university who was famous for being absent-minded. She kept him organized and on schedule. Nigel Compton was very patient about her frequent doctor's appointments. Luckily, he didn't mind her being absent so long as she kept up with his schedule. This afternoon he was giving a lecture, so her presence wasn't required at the office.

Justine let her thoughts drift to Nigel's brother, Jared, who was the President of the university. Jared was everything she had always imagined her soulmate to be. He was attractive, intelligent and kind. She had a terrible crush on him and was too shy to do anything about it. She doubted he would ever notice her, either. She had mousy brown hair and green eyes that looked too large to belong on her face. Her wardrobe was hopelessly outdated and she never wore any makeup.

She knew she needed a makeover, but her mother would not approve of that. Thinking about her mother made her heart pound mercilessly. She was twenty-seven years old and she still lived with her mother and brother in a small bungalow in an older part of town. Her mother believed that a girl should stay with her family until she got married. Justine didn't think that was ever going to happen. She often felt trapped but didn't know how to become more independent.

'Justine?' the nurse called, from the doorway.

Justine stood up and followed the nurse to a consultation room. Dr. Sampson soon joined her. He knew her very well and he was always kind and patient with her. She explained her symptoms in great detail and he made notes on her chart. He listened to her chest with his stethoscope. Before he could give her an opinion, there was a knock at the door.

'Excuse me,' Dr. Sampson said, leaving the room.

The door was slightly ajar. Justine could hear their conversation.

'I thought you'd want to see these test results right away, doctor,' the nurse said.

'Thank you,' he replied, after a moment.

'How many months would you say she has?' the nurse asked.

'Four maybe. Six if she's lucky. We won't tell her that if she doesn't ask for specifics,' the doctor replied.

Were they talking about her? Justine wondered. Did she really only have four months to live? Why wouldn't the doctor tell her that?

A few minutes later the doctor returned with a sample of pills in a box.

'These are brand new on the market,' he said, handing Justine the box. 'Put one under your tongue whenever you have a spell and it should help your symptoms go away. Don't take more than two per day.'

Justine nodded, feeling a lump in her throat. She was too scared to ask him how long she had to live. What test results had he seen? She had a holter monitor test last month, but he never got back to her about it. Maybe it was so bad he didn't want her to know. She could barely focus on what he was saying.

Ten minutes later she sat in her car in the parking lot. Tears streamed down her face at the thought of dying soon. Her mother would be so upset if she knew. Justine decided to keep it a secret. No one else needed to know that she had a deadline for her life; it was nobody else's business. She couldn't stop thinking about all the things she'd never get to do: she'd never fall in love, get married, or have her own family. It was so unfair. Why did life have to be so unfair? She wasn't a bad person; why was she being punished this way? She didn't deserve it.

She was going to have to make the most of her days from now on. Especially since she didn't know how many days she had left. She must try to live her life to the fullest so she wouldn't have any regrets in the end. Starting with Jared Compton. The next time she saw him, she was going to get his attention even if it killed her. Literally.