From Mountains to Lone Stars

"Yes, Mrs. Stewart, your daughter does have cancer, but I do believe that it only requires surgery. We've got it early enough, and the mass doesn't appear to be growing. The sooner we get her into surgery, the better it will be," Dr. Adams said.

My mom looked her up and down. "And with our insurance, how expensive will this surgery be?"

I glanced at the floor. Was she really more concerned about the cost than me? I was her daughter, and I had cancer, but her first fucking question was about pay. I get it; we couldn't really afford another surgery, but I doubt we had time to wait to see someone in fucking RENO FUCKING NEVADA!

I could see the doctor tense up a little. "Mrs. Stewart, there are payment plans if cost is an issue, but I don't think Alexis should fly or drive. If she waits, there is a high probability that the mass will metastasis. "

"When can get the surgery? And how soon can I be back at school and work?" I asked. This was about me. Mom could wait for later. She was going to be pissed that I talked over her, but this wasn't about her. This was about my quality of life.

"Well, Alexis, we can schedule surgery for this week. You'll be in hospital for about three days, and then we want to monitor you for several weeks after."

I nodded. "And how will this affect my life? Will I go into early menopause? Will I grow it back?"

Dr. Adams folded her hands. "Well, you'll have an ovary, a Fallopian tube, and your uterus removed. First off that means no more periods. You won't go into menopause. Because of your age though, we'll give you estrogen supplements. Now, this mean no kids either. But the chances of cancer will be very low. That leaves you with one ovary or we can remove everything."

My eyes shifted to my mother. I could see her now realizing the full extent of everything. "Jesus, Alexis. How soon can we get this done? How soon this week?"

I'm glad she finally came to her fucking senses.
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Matt looked at me, a gentle smile on his face. We hadn't talked about our sneaked kisses. We were afraid if we said it aloud, people would hear and start to spread rumors. We both needed and wanted these jobs.

"Hey, Matt. Can I talk to you and Miranda?" I asked as I entered the back room to flip my name tag to show my name. The name tags meant we were in or out of the building.

"Sure. Let me get her."

He motioned for me to go into his office and then rushed over to Miranda's place. She came running in and hugged me. I had only told these two about my prognosis, but tonight, I was going to tell everyone.

"I'm going to have my surgery on Wednesday and will need three days of recovery. I could use help telling my professors, and I'll need to have someone take my desk shift and my on-call shift this weekend," I said and watched my bosses.

"We're on it," Miranda said and raced off to her office. She was probably already getting started on the paperwork.

I looked at Matt, a blush forming on my face. I had no idea why that was happening. Matt stared at me and then out his office door. Ever so slowly, he reached out and cupped my face, giving me a brief but firm kiss.

"I'll be there however you need me."

Notes

OOOO THEY DONE KISSED AGAIN.