When the doors swung open in the lobby, I thought maybe it was John coming in, but instead it was a limping guy on the arm of his wife. I let out a deep breath after they walked to the desk.

“Looking for someone?” Valerie leaned over.

“No. Well, Monica said she’d come by, but she may have meant to my apartment afterward.” Monica did say that she wanted to be there for my surgery, but I didn’t expect her to be.

“Uh huh, and is Monica over six feet tall and looks like she just walked off a body building set?” Valerie raised her eyebrows.

Mom looked over Valerie’s shoulder. “Is everything all right over here? Are we waiting for someone else?”

“Melanie’s boyfriend,” Valerie blurted.

“You have a boyfriend? And he’s coming here?” Mom blinked hard. She had at least three cups of coffee, but still looked exhausted.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I elbowed Valerie in the side. Of course she had to bring him up when Mom was around. She’d probably eventually meet him, if he did show up, but I didn’t want him introduced as my boyfriend.

“What is he then?” Valerie had a small smile on her face that Mom couldn’t see. Of course she would pin me in the corner. My stupid big sister was always trying to rat me out. She’d been doing that since we were kids.

“He’s a friend. Who I sort of like...” I stammered, trying to think of a word to describe John. I liked him, yeah. He was funny and charming and unbelievably good looking. Yet he also had other girls that were always clamoring for his attention. I guess friends for now would still work. That was what we said. Before last night. Before he made me orgasm in a very public place. “Can we just talk about something else?”

“Like what? The weather?” Valerie blinked.

She had a point. There was that unspoken subject hanging over our heads: why we were here. That I was going in for surgery to remove my cancer. That this might not work. That my body may still be broken beyond repair.

When the door opened again, I didn’t even look up, expecting it to be another set of hobbling people. But then Valerie sat up straighter, puffing out her chest. “Hey, Monica. Hey, John.”

What? I blinked hard before I glanced in the direction my sister was looking. There stood Monica, Trey, and John. Monica smiled at Valerie and Trey introduced himself, but John just stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking like a little kid who was about to be reprimanded.

Mom stood and hugged Monica and then examined a button on Monica’s coat. “Monica, I knew you were dating the governor’s son, but have you switched parties as well?”

Monica rolled her eyes and held out the button that read “Chapman for Governor.” “No, I lost a bet on who would win Dancing with the Stars and I have to wear this for the rest of the holiday.”

Mom turned and shook hands with Trey. “Well, I’m glad that you’re keeping her in line. Someone has to.”

He briskly shook her hand. “The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Wilder.”

Then Mom’s eyes flitted over to John. Mom was petite like me so he towered over her. He was in his usual backwards hat and an AM hoodie. Not that I expected him to dress up to meet my mom, but it didn’t look like he was trying to impress her in any way. Maybe he didn’t think he needed to make a good impression if we weren’t dating.

“You must be the boy that Valerie was just telling me about.” She stepped in front of him.

“Um, I don’t know what boy she was talking about, but I’m John. Melanie’s friend.” He shook her hand, his eyes jerking around nervously before they landed on mine and he offered a small smile.

“Friend? You must be a very good friend to come here for her surgery. I’m sure she appreciates it very much.”

He nodded, letting go of my mom’s hand with his eyes locked on mine. “I’d like to think so.”

Luckily the awkwardness was broken up when the nurse came in with a wheelchair to take me to surgery prep. “Um, I don’t think I need this. I’m not an invalid or actually sick or anything.”

The peppy nurse smiled, bobbing her head. “Sorry, it’s hospital policy.”

“Fine.” I reluctantly sat in the wheelchair.

“And are you all family?” She looked at the entourage I had gathered.

“Yes,” Mom said, not letting anyone else speak.

“Okay, then, follow us and I’ll point you to the waiting area.”

As I was wheeled down hallway after hallway, I thought about all of the steps that led me to this point. The mistake of being too trusting with my ex—and here I was facing a disease. And, ironically, it was my quest for bedding John that led me to getting checked out by a doctor in the first place. If I’d never met John or decided that I liked him, would I be where I was right now? Or would my condition have gotten worse?

The nurse wheeled me to a curtained off area with a small bed and different machines surrounding it. She pulled a gown from a drawer and set it on the bed. “You’re going to need to get completely undressed and put on this gown. Another nurse and tech will be with you shortly to get you prepped. Have a great day and good luck.”

The rest of my entourage was standing around the bed. I didn’t exactly want to get undressed in front of everyone, so I was glad when Monica spoke up. “Um, I think I’m going to head over to that waiting room she talked about. Is that cool?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I nodded.

Monica leaned over and gave me a big hug. “Good luck in there. We’ll be waiting.”

“Yes, good luck, Melanie,” Trey said, before he took Monica’s hand and they walked out of the room.

“Are they engaged yet?” Mom asked.

“Mom, they just started dating. Not everyone gets married right away,” I said. At least the scrutiny was off of me.

“They will,” John said in a low voice.

Valerie turned and looked at John. “Do you know something that we don’t?”

He shrugged. “It’s just obvious. That’s all. When you care a lot about someone, it happens.” His eyes nervously searched the room, briefly falling on mine before he looked down.

The room stayed silent for what seemed like forever until my mom broke the silence. “Okay, we’ll step outside the curtain here and let you get ready.”

“Sounds good.” Mom, Valerie, and John stepped outside of the curtain. I thought John would follow Monica and Trey to the waiting room, but when the nurses opened the curtain, he was still there.

He stayed while the nurses hooked me up to IVs and asked me medical questions. He leaned against the wall, not saying a word, as they told me what would happen in the procedure. Mom sat in the chair next to me, holding my hand and Valerie stood on the other side of the bed. I felt like I was being wheeled to my death, like this was the last time they’d see me. Mom didn’t cry, but I could see that she wanted to. I was trying to be the strong one. To not think about what was going to happen to me.

“Mom, it’s going to be okay. I’m going to be okay,” I said to her in almost a whisper. Whatever medication they gave me was starting to kick in and I started to drift off to sleep.

“Yes you are, Mel.” She patted my hand.

“People survive this all the time. I’m going to survive. We’re survivors. You and me.”

“I hope so, baby. I just wish I could have been here for you. Took you to your doctor’s appointments. Asked them questions. The only thing I know about any of this is what you told me and what I found online.” I could see the tears welling in her eyes, which didn’t help the ones I was trying to hold back.

“You’ve always done what’s best for me, Mom. Even when you didn’t think you did. I’m glad that I had friends to take me to those appointments and there’s nothing more you could have done.”

“But I could have been here. I could have held your hand. I could have...” her voice caught in her throat as tears streamed her cheeks.

I squeezed her hand. “You did everything just fine, Mom. I’m going to make it through this. We’re going to make it through this.”

When Dr. Rodriguez came in, dressed in blue scrubs, everyone stood up. My mom and Valerie wiped the tears from their eyes and put on a brave face, even though I knew both of them were just as scared as I was. Maybe even more.

“Good morning, Melanie,” she said in her thick accent.

“Morning,” I said, groggily. The medication was really kicking in now and I could barely form sentences.

“We’re going to get you wheeled into surgery now, so I’m just going to ask your family to head over to the waiting room.”

“Okay Dokay,” I mumbled.

“How long will it take? What should we expect next? What if this doesn’t work?” My mom fired off question after question.

Dr. Rodriguez turned toward my mom. “I assume you’re Mrs. Wilder? Yes?”

Mom nodded.

Dr. Rodriguez offered her a warm smile. “The surgery should be less than an hour, but then she’ll be in recovery for a few hours after. We’ll alert you when we have wheeled her into recovery. I’ll do a biopsy after we remove the cancerous cells and then another one in a few weeks after she’s healed. If there aren’t any more cancerous cells, nothing further needs to be done.

“And if the surgery doesn’t work? If she still has cancer?” Mom raised her eyebrow, her voice getting farther and farther away, but I fought my drifting, waiting to hear the doctor’s answer.

“Then we’ll talk about other options such as radiation and chemotherapy. But since we detected it early, I have no doubts that she should be in remission soon.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Mom and Valerie both squeezed my hand and kissed my forehead before walking out of the room, leaving me, John, and the doctor.