Chapter 9 #2
Etta hung up. “That’s it. Phone is off.” She tossed it onto the nightstand beside her. “Do me the honor of coming over here, my flower. I haven’t taken care of you in a long time.”
Jamie went, but she wasn’t cheery – and she should have been. I should be happy she wants to spoil me now.
“You okay?”
Jamie stood beside the bed, taking in the sight of her girlfriend, who looked like an average woman in her cotton and polyester.
But she wasn’t an average woman. She was Etta Coleman, one of the richest women in the country, and liable to implode her company if she didn’t pick the right partner. Not to mention imploding herself…
Those things welling in the corners of Jamie’s eyes? Yeah, they burst now.
“Jamie!” Etta jerked up, grabbing her arms as she shook her off to wipe away the tears. “What’s wrong?”
She tried to tell her, but every time the words attempted to come, she sobbed harder, salt and tears and God knew what else cascading from every orifice.
Etta tried to get her to calm down, but her soothing voice did not help. She was a reminder of what was happening. The changes coming. Something neither of them could have prepared for, let alone expect.
“Etta…” She gagged on her girlfriend’s name, but only because she looked her straight in the eye. This was not how she wanted to earn Etta’s undivided attention! “I have cancer!”
She hyperventilated to the point Barbarossa shot out from beneath the bed and yowled at the door to be let out of crazy town, population Jamie.
“What?” That was all Etta said, her grip falling from Jamie. “What?”
Jamie was about to explode. “Cancer! I think I have it!”
Finally, quiet settled in the room. Etta had already been silent. Jamie stopped crying so loudly. Barbarossa halted her yowling and instead flopped in front of the door, tail bouncing in irritation.
“Why?” Here it came. “What makes you think you have cancer?”
Jamie thought those words would be laced with anger.
Disbelief. Poison. Instead, Jamie heard something she never expected: fear.
She looked down, finding her usually put-together girlfriend – the rational one between the two of them – paling in fear.
No. No, don’t do this to me. Don’t get scared.
I need you to be the solid one here, Etta.
“The doctor put it in my head. Then my friend… she reminded me that some nasty cancers run in my family. My symptoms… Etta, I’ve got some of the symptoms for some of the rudest cancers I can think of!”
They were quiet again. Jamie already flinching in preparation for being told she was stupid.
It never came.
“Jamie.” Etta steadied them both with deft hands.
Color returned to her face. Good. Here came the woman Jamie depended on being the problem solver.
The woman who almost single-handedly built a billion-dollar business from nothing.
If she couldn’t make sense of this, then nobody could.
“Have you been to the doctor? Have you had tests?”
“No, but…”
“Then there’s no sense in panicking about it right now.”
“I check so many boxes! And it’s not a virus! I took a test for that! Remember how I got sick again, but you didn’t? The doctor was asking me all sorts of questions… I looked them up… Etta, it’s what doctors ask if they think you have cancer!”
“But did he say the C word? Did he book you an appointment at the clinic to get tests done? Even behind my back?”
It wasn’t an accusation she was getting. It was the nth degree about her body. From the one woman who knew it inside and out – daresay better than Jamie’s gyno.
“No… none of that. But I’ve also been super woozy all the time.
And I’m sore and tender all over. This isn’t like PMS. This is something totally new to me.
My body is changing. I can’t stop it. I can’t control it.
Everything is pointing to something being really wrong with me! I swear I’m not making it up!”
“Of course you’re not making it up! Why the hell would you? That’s not you!”
Jamie gasped, unprepared for this side of Etta after all. “I’m sorry…”
“What are you apologizing for?” Etta’s voice softened.
She also lessened the pressure on Jamie’s arms. “You didn’t do anything wrong.
” She interrupted her girlfriend’s next outburst. “No, Jamie, look. I’m going to get you to the doctor ASAP.
This next week if they can fit us in. You’re going to get an expert’s opinion, and I’m going to… ”
Jamie couldn’t help but laugh. “Donate a billion dollars to cancer research?”
“Whatever I have to do.”
Jamie’s laughter intensified. “You’re going to hunt for a cure while a stranger is all up in my business.”
“What’s funny about that?”
“I have no idea, but it’s better than the alternative!”
“I suppose…” Etta’s hands bunched into two fists. “If you have cancer… no, we can’t think like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean let’s not set our minds on anything until we get official word from the doctor.”
She didn’t like Etta’s tone. “Are you angry?” she asked.
“Why would I be angry?” Etta linked her arms around Jamie’s waist, bringing them chest to chest. “If I appear angry about anything, it has nothing to do with you. It’s just… you know.”
“You’re mad about it. You can say you’re not, but I can sense it.”
“Some crazy news, huh?” Etta’s voice and the movements of her mouth vibrated through Jamie’s midsection.
“No matter what, Jamie, I’m with you. Am I scared?
Yes. Am I hopeful this is all in your head, even by mistake?
Yes. But I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.
If it’s the worst news in the world, then we’ll figure it out. ”
“You promise?”
“If I’m angry, it’s because I’m stressed, and this would add to it. I won’t lie about that.”
“Of course.” Jamie knew that. The last thing Etta needed right now was the stress of her girlfriend dealing with one of the worst ailments in the world. “You’re right, though. Let’s not freak out until the doctor tells us to.”
“That’s not quite what I said.”
Jamie threaded her fingers through Etta’s hair. There was something comforting about it. “That’s what I interpreted.”
“I know.”
Jamie embraced her, feeling Etta’s body, her heartbeat next to hers. “You’ll take care of me, right? No matter what happens, I need to know you’re with me, Etta.” She sucked back more tears. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Etta rubbed her back, those strong hands protecting her and whatever else may lie between them. “I’m with you. We’ll figure this out. I’m glad you told me.”
Jamie had to believe her. That belief was the only thing that would get her through the next few days until a doctor’s test could seal her fate.