Page 33 of Fluffed and Folded

Any word,Tristan asked.

Getting ready for an MRI. The doctor was frowny.

Bad as it seems now, this is for the best. A full medical workup probably should have been the starting point. Maybe now she’ll get some answers.

Eli couldn’t repress his smile.Did Josie steal your phone? That was ridiculously optimistic.

She has a way of rubbing off,Tristan returned.

Eli tucked his phone away and stood. The night was going to be long, he should go in search of coffee.

Three hours later, the same doctor found him again, looking strangely excited. “Come on back, I think we have a diagnosis.” He returned behind the mysterious doors, not waiting to see if Eli followed. He did so,feeling a bit lost. But someone must have been watching for him because several heads snapped up and a nurse directed him toward the curtain that contained Darby. Inside, he found an entire team of people waiting anxiously on him, but his eyes landed on Darby, pale and unconscious.

“Is she okay?” he asked, swallowing hard against the terror he’d felt since she collapsed.

“She’s sleeping off the sedation we gave her. This is Dr. Ankar and Dr. Shultz, the psych and gynecological consults I requested.” Eli barely had time to shake their hands before the ER doctor continued, that strange buzz of excitement still lacing his voice. “We noticed a mass on Darby’s MRI.”

Eli froze, awash in terror again. A mass was never good, and yet the doctor’s tone indicated it would be. “A mass,” he repeated slowly, eyes darting to Darby again. Cancer?

“On her ovary. That, combined with some unusual levels in her bloodwork, led us to believe Darby has a teratoma. Do you have any idea what that is?”

“Some kind of tumor?” Eli guessed. He wasn’t an expert in medical terms, but he’d worked in enough nursing homes to become familiar with some things. “Oma” was tumor, of that much he was certain.

The doctor gave an approving nod. “A teratoma is a bit different because it’s a germ cell tumor, meaning its genetic makeup has the possibility to become other things. Often times when we find these masses they contain teeth, hair, sometimes even organs.” He shifted, and so did the other two doctors in the room. Eli felt like the buzz was reaching a fever pitch. “Rarely these masses will trigger psychiatric symptoms that can become severe. No one is quite certain of the mechanics of this. Perhaps the teratoma contains elements of brain matter that create a mirroring effect. It’s uncertain. What we do know is that once the mass is removed, normal brain function can often return.”

Eli swallowed a lump, eyes darting to Darby. “She’ll have to have surgery? Is it cancer?”

The doctor tipped his head. “Teratomas are generally benign, but we’ll certainly send it to the lab to verify. Based on the location of the mass, we’ll have to remove an ovary and a fallopian tube.” He paused. “This may affect her future fertility, make it more challenging, but not impossible, to become pregnant. Though, without the surgery, the effect will be the same. The mass is blocking access to her ovary and must have been causing a fair amount of bleeding and pain for some time. She’ll need some follow up immunotherapy treatment, but that’s something we can discuss further when she’s conscious.”

Eli still must have looked concerned because the doctor reached out and squeezed his bicep. “I know this is daunting, but it’s a good thing. Post surgery, she’ll have a couple of weeks of recovery, and will hopefully go on to live a full and normal life. One day, it will be like none of this ever happened.”

Eli nodded, smiled, and tried to look happy, but he didn’t feel it. A tumor, one that affected her brain and had been causing her odd behavior and blackouts, didn’t sound as casual as they made it. And surgery? Surgery on her ovaries that would affect her ability to have children? Did she want children? Eli had no idea because he didn’t know her, not at all, really.

“How long will she be incapacitated? How long will she need help?” Eli asked, feeling like a heel. He was asking not for Darby’s sake, but for his. How long would he be tied to this person he barely knew?

The doctor tipped his head in the other direction. “The first two weeks will be the hardest part. After that she’ll get a bit more ambulatory and independent. But I wouldn’t leave her alone until then.”

Eli took that in, his eyes landing on Darby again.Two weeks.Could he devote that much of his life to this stranger? What other option was there?

“The surgeon will stop by soon for a consult, we’ll need to make certain she’s conscious by then. If all goes well, we’ll have her under in a matter of hours.”

Eli jolted. “That soon?”

For the first time, the doctor’s manner turned grave. “While her recovery is optimistic, the situation right now is serious. The sooner we remove the mass, the better her chances.”

Eli swallowed hard. They were telling him she could die. Strangely, and although he barely knew her, the prospect of that was a hard gut punch. He nodded. “Okay. Good, thanks.”

“You’re welcome to stay back here now,” the doctor said as his silent cohorts shifted and prepared to leave. “I’m sure she’ll want to see you when she wakes up.”

He wasn’t sure of that at all. She would probably be confused and embarrassed by his presence, but that didn’t matter, couldn’t matter.She has no one else.It was becoming a mantra, but one he’d soon have to fix. The possibility of losing her, of everything she was about to face, had galvanized him. As soon as the doctors left the cubicle, he removed his phone and messaged his secretary.I’m going to need to take some time off. I’ll send you a schedule, as soon as I know more.

When that was done, he felt resolved and, strangely, a weight had been lifted. He was in this now, and he’d see it through. Like it or not, Darby was no longer alone; she had him, for better or worse, until this was over.

CHAPTER 19

Darby was predictably confused, when she finally woke. Her big eyes blinked at Eli, and he had to physically resist the urge to brush her tumbly hair off her disoriented face.

“What’s going on?” she croaked.

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