Page 8 of With You Forever

Lacey perks up and flips to the page that contains Sal’s rose-colored maid-of-honor dress. But before she can inhale a breath and let her mouth go into overdrive, the door to the exam room swings open.

Lacey and Sal look up.

“Ms. Kincaid?” A nurse stands there with a chart and a smile.

Sal stands. “That’s me.” She grins at Lacey. “For now.”

Lacey squeezes Sal’s hand, then watches her disappear into the back room. Nerves bubble for her sister and she says a quick prayer that Sal’s okay.

An hour later, Sal slips into Lacey’s room. “How’d it go? Was getting felt up wonderful as usual?”

Lacey laughs and adjusts the shoulders of her sweater. “Oh, I loved it. How about you?”

Sal beams, her green eyes bright with relief. “All clear. All good.”

Lacey squeals. “We should celebrate. Come to Tonk’s with me. Seth and I need to pare down the guest list, and you’ll be the perfect one to wrangle Luke.” Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she grabs up her purse, then sags back against the wall and wrinkles her nose, trying to chase away her nerves. “That is if I ever get out of here.”

She’s antsy. All she wants to do is take her planner and go meet Seth.

Sal’s eyes widen. “You’ve been waiting an hour, Lace. That’s bullshit,” she says, sounding concerned. “I’ll go find Mayr.”

Lacey hides a smirk. Her big sister practically runs the hospital. Everyone knows and loves Sal.

At the exact moment Sal turns around, the door opens. Dr. Mayr, a man in his early forties, stands there, his shock of bright white hair a contrast to his youthful face. His dark blue eyes warm when he sees Sal. “Sal, good to see you.”

“You too,” Sal says. “Do you have my sister’s results?”

“I do.” Mayr adjusts a folder in his hands. His gaze moves from Sal to Lacey. “I was wondering if I could speak with you in private, Lacey.”

Instantly, the levity, the warmth, is sucked from the room.

Startled, Lacey looks to Sal, who’s gone pale. “What—” Lacey falters. Recovers. “You can tell me with Sal here.” When Mayr hesitates, Lacey lifts her chin. “She’s my sister. She stays.”

“Of course.” Dr. Mayr moves to the workstation and click-clacks the keyboard.

Sal’s hand snaps out and grabs Lacey’s.

After a few seconds, an image is called up onto the screen. Lacey blinks at the image of her breast, suddenly very aware that Sal’s grip has turned tight and torturous.

Mayr gestures at the screen. A pencil-eraser-sized spot. “There’s a small shadow here, Lacey, do you see it?”

Lacey licks her lips. “Yes.” She looks at the doctor. Her heart thumps wildly. “What does that mean? Is it bad?”

“We’d call this an abnormal scan. This shadow here could be nothing. Or it could also indicate the presence of—”

“Cancer,” Lacey whispers, a scream freezing in her throat. A numb kind of feeling settles over her.

Sal winces. “Stop,” she shushes. But her face has lost all color, except for the bright green blaze of her eyes.

This is not happening. This is absolutely not happening.

Lacey shakes her head, feeling like the rug’s been pulled out from under her. “I don’t understand, I never felt a lump.” She fumbles for the words, stumbles around the hot rush of panic and guilt. “I did exams at home, maybe not all the time, maybe not as good as I should have but, but ...”

“I know this is scary.” Dr. Mayr sits on the high chair. “We can’t be sure what it is without a biopsy.”

Lacey swallows. “Okay.”

She and Sal exchange looks of worry.

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