CHAPTER ELEVEN
Three weeks later Addy found herself pacing beside her SUV in a side parking lot talking to herself, while gripping her cell phone with white knuckles. “I can do this. Just push the button. You can do this.” She’d been there for almost an hour now and knew time was wasting, but she couldn’t bring herself to either enter the building or make the phone call. She didn’t see that she was drawing a crowd from the people inside.
Randy frowned out the side window of the front entrance to the garage and studied the woman. He left the others watching her pace back and forth and tried to read her lips. He went to the office and knocked on the doorjamb. When the two owners looked up, he sighed. “Got something I think you two need to check out.”
“What’s that?” His boss, Abe asked as he leaned back in his chair and laughed at Randy’s expression. “Come on, Randy, you know everything there is to know about cars, what’s got you looking so confused.”
“It’s not about a car. There’s a woman in the side lot pacing back and forth and talking to herself. She looks like your ex-wife.”
Lincoln slammed his feet down and jumped up. He had to stop when Greaser beat him to the door. They went out an open bay door and around the side of the building. They stopped and stared at Addison as she paced and talked to herself.
“How did you know it was her?” Greaser asked Randy.
“I watched her a lot at the anniversary party,” he admitted, then found himself slammed against the side of the building. He held up his hands, and said to his defense, “I was told she was your ex.”
“No, we’re still legally married and will continue to be. You keep your eyes in your head when it comes to my wife .” Lincoln gave him an extra shove, then Greaser pulled him off the kid. Together they went over and stood at the hood of the SUV, and when they leaned on it they frowned at how cool it was. That indicated that she’d been there for some time.
“Addison?” Lincoln asked as he slowly rounded the truck. He had to suck in his breath when she turned at the sound of his voice and the look of utter terror on her face. “Addison? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Lincoln rushed forward and thank god Greaser was behind him and caught him when Addison ran to Lincoln and slammed into him.
“Lincoln.” She breathed out and burst into tears. He held her tightly and let her cry it out. He knew that nothing got her upset often, but when she was she had to cry, then she would gather herself and explain what was wrong. After twenty minutes of her not letting up, he picked her up and took her into his office, shutting everyone, even Greaser out. He sat in his chair and cradled her to his chest.
“Easy now, Addison. I’m here. I’ve got you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” When she started to calm down, he began running his hand over her hair, something she always loved and she relaxed even more. She finally sat up and studied him.
“I don’t mean to bother you. But could I ask a favor of you?”
“Anything, Addison. You can ask me anything.”
“Can you go with me to the doctors? I had to have more tests and he said that he wanted me to come into the office with someone to get the results. I realized that I don’t have anyone. I immediately thought of you when he said to bring someone.” She knew she was babbling, but at this point, she didn’t care because she was scared shitless, and she knew that Lincoln would be there for her.
“When does he want to see you?”
“ASAP. He called over an hour ago. I’ve been outside pacing, trying to get up the nerve to call or to come in. Lincoln, what could it be?”
“Why don’t we go find out?” he said, and stood and placed her on his chair. “Let me change my shirt and wash my hands and I’ll drive you.” He immediately whipped his shirt off and went across to the closet and pulled a clean one out. He and Greaser kept several shirts for emergencies. He put it on, spread on deodorant, buttoned up and said a silent prayer that his jeans were clean. He tucked it in as he went back to her, took her hands and helped her to her feet.
“I just have to wash my hands, come with me.” He led her out of the office and over to the handwashing station. He noticed that everyone was staring at them, but he ignored them. He did like the fact that Addy had latched onto one of his belt loops and refused to let go. It was almost like she wanted to anchor herself to him. He was just fine with that. He’d be her anchor in any storm she faced. That was his duty as her husband. After he dried his hands, he took her cold hand into his and closed his eyes. She was trembling and her fingers were ice cold. He looked at Greaser and saw his concern.
“I’ll be gone for the rest of the day. Addison and I have something we have to do.”
“Okay, we’ve got everything under control. Just don’t forget the vote at the clubhouse tonight.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it.”
“He’ll be there,” Addison said with a trembling breath. “We just have a quick thing to do, he shouldn’t be long.” She waved it off. Lincoln noticed that she had a death grip on his hand. It took everything he had not to wince.
“We’ll take your truck. Where’s the keys?”
“No clue, probably still in it,” she said in a dead voice.
“Go see if they’re there, I’ll be right behind you.” Lincoln kissed the side of her head and gave her a gentle nudge. As soon as she cleared the door, he turned to Greaser.
“What the hell, man? Is she okay? She had this look of terror on her face.”
“I don’t know, but maybe we can have answers. I’ll explain everything later. It’s probably nothing, but she asked me to be with her and I can’t deny her.”
“Go do what you have. Vote’s at nine tonight.”
“I’ll try,” Lincoln said as he swung his leather on and hurried after his wife. He hopped behind the wheel of the truck, and asked gently, “Where to?”
She gave him the address and they arrived in twenty minutes. With her hand in his, he helped her into the office and sat her down as he went to the receptionist. She opened the sliding door and frowned at him.
“Can I help you?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Murphy to see the doctor.”
“One moment.” She closed the door, got to her feet and left. Lincoln joined his wife and held her hand as she continued to tremble.
“Mr. and Mrs. Murphy,” came a voice, and they looked up and saw a nurse standing there. Lincoln helped Addison to her feet and followed the nurse. They were led into an office, and the nurse said, “The doctor will be right with you.”
After the nurse left, Lincoln moved his chair closer to Addison’s, thankful there were no arms on them. He put his arm around her and rubbed his hand up and down her arm. He was whispering to her, he had no idea what he said, but it seemed to calm her. She was sitting as stiff as a board, gripped his hand tightly, staring into space.
The door opened and two doctors walked in, and one sat behind his desk while the other leaned against the table behind him.
“Mrs. Murphy. Thank you for coming in so soon,” the doctor behind the desk said. He looked at Lincoln and frowned. “And you are?”
“Mr. Murphy. I’m Addison’s husband.” Lincoln held out his hand.
“Oh, I’m Dr. King. And this is Dr. Knight. Mrs. Murphy, we’ve viewed your original tests and the ones we had you redo. They were redone because they were blurry and we wanted to get a clear picture,” he said to Lincoln, by way of explanation.
“The tests from the pap came back normal, so everything in that department is fine.” He looked at Dr. Knight and nodded. “There’s no easy way to say this, but we believe you have a tumor in each breast. Dr. Knight is an oncologist and he’ll be taking over from here. Dr. Knight.”
“Do you know what I do?” Dr. Knight asked.
“Yes,” Addison said through cold, stiff lips. “Do I have breast cancer?”
“We won’t know the answer to that until we do a biopsy. Here are the films from your first mammogram from three weeks ago.” He flipped on a light and Lincoln and Addison stood and went to get a closer look. “As you can see, the whole thing is fuzzy. This is the right breast, and this is the left. Now these are the ones you had three days ago.” He took the fuzzy ones down and put up two more.
“As you can see, there is a mass on the right. The one on the left is slightly smaller. I need to go in and take a biopsy of each mass.”
“When?” Lincoln barked out, and tightened his arm around Addison when she sagged against him. His only saving grace from ripping the room apart was that Addison had come to him in her time of need. He made a vow, not only as her husband, but as the man that loved her with his entire being that he would be there for her no matter what was to come. He not only owed it to her, but he had made the vow of sickness and health, so he was ready to step up to the plate and see it through.
“I’d like her to go to the hospital from here and get checked in.” Dr. Knight looked between the two of them and saw that what he was saying wouldn’t register with Mrs. Murphy, so he turned all his attention to Mr. Murphy. “She’ll have to get some blood work done and I’ve already scheduled an OR for seven tomorrow morning. I’ll do a biopsy on each mass, and unfortunately, Mrs. Murphy will have to stay in the hospital until we get the results. Which should be between twenty-four and forty-eight hours. I will make sure I put a rush on it when it gets to the lab.”
“Why?” Addison asked.
“Don’t sugarcoat anything, Doctor. We can handle it. Tell us everything now.”
“First, I don’t know everything yet. But once we get the results from the biopsy and if it is cancer, then I’m going to want to get in there and remove the tumor. Now this is the worst-case scenario, but I’d remove both tumors, possibly both breasts. When she heals from that, then we’ll begin an aggressive round of chemo.”
“Best case scenario?” Lincoln asked through gritted teeth.
“The biopsy comes back not cancer and we remove the mass or keep a close eye on it. We can give her medication to dissolve it.”
“NO!” Addison yelled and began trembling even harder than before. Lincoln helped her to her chair.
“I can’t go through that again.” Lincoln looked at the doctors and frowned.
Dr. King got on his haunches and took Addison’s cold hands in his. “Mrs. Murphy. Addy, dissolving the mass won’t be like what you had to go through with the baby. But if it turns out to be not cancerous, then I’m sure Dr. Knight can cut it out, without removing your breast.”
“I’m not worried about that, I can always get fake tits in the future, but I can’t go through what I did with the miscarriage.”
Lincoln saw the doctors talking and he listened intently, and hugged Addison to him tighter. “So, you want us to go to the hospital and get checked in, you’ll do blood work and she’ll have surgery at seven in the morning.”
“Correct.”
“What time do we have to be there?”
“Since it’s going on four in the afternoon, the sooner the better,” Dr. Knight handed them a folder. “They’re expecting you. Just ask for the oncology floor and they’ll help you. Give them your name and tell them Dr. Knight is your admitting doctor. I have a few things to finish up here and I’ll meet you over there.”
Lincoln helped Addison to her feet and they made their way out to the SUV. They drove in silence to the hospital, but before they got out of the truck, Lincoln took her hand in his. “We’ll get through this together, Addison. I’ll be there every step of the way. Right now, my goal is to get you checked in, go to wherever you’re staying, pack a bag and go to my house and pack a bag. I’ll be staying with you. So, while you’re getting your blood work done, I’ll go get some clothes for us.”
“Don’t forget your meeting tonight. Go to that, and if you still want to be with me, come afterward. You can’t miss that vote. Not that it’s any of my business, but what’s it for?”
“We’re voting for the officers for the next year.” Lincoln did some heavy thinking, then knowing his wife, he lifted the console between the seats and found paper and pen. “Write down your address and I’ll swing by and pack a bag for you on the way to the clubhouse. Then stop and get a bag for me. I’ll come to you as soon as the meeting is over. I should be back at the hospital by eleven. But I’m going to stay with you until you’re settled and wait for the blood work.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do,” he said, and they went in to begin the nightmare.