looked at the positive. If he didn’t, he feared he wouldn’t be able to function.
According to these brilliant minds, with proper treatment and care it was not only feasible, but likely, that the mass could be nearly eradicated, with any remnants inactive and unable to do her more harm or spread to other places.
They had varying ideas on how to remove the tumor and how aggressive to be. There were concerns of complications it could cause. They were still consulting on the best methods. A few were already preparing to travel to see Katherine in person.
The last message was from Dr. Peter Manstein, who worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He wasn’t able to come for approximately three weeks, which caused Joseph to sigh in frustration. He wanted everyone to drop everything else in their lives for his wife.
Logically, he knew that wasn’t possible, but if he thought it would help, he’d hogtie each person to a chair until they had a flawless plan. But from all he was reading, they were telling him this was a marathon, not a sprint. That was something Joseph wasn’t used to. His philosophy was that anything worth doing was worth doing immediately.
But Dr. Manstein was the best neurosurgeon in the United States, possibly the world. Of course he was sought after. And if Spence trusted him, he was worth waiting for. Instead of letting his frustration grow at the fact this might take time, he allowed himself to appreciate knowing the best of the best was collaborating on his wife’s case.
He created a reply, thanking each of the doctors who’d given their time and expertise, then turned off his phone and sat back, looking at his wife, love radiating from him. The more she felt his love, the more she’d fight.
“Ah, my love, many people are working hard to take care of you. I’ve promised you the best, and you’ll get nothing less. You have nothing to fear because you are loved, cherished, and there’s no mountain any of us won’t conquer for you. It will be only the blink of an eye in an eternity of time until you’re back on your feet, laughing with our grandchildren again.”
Joseph felt the stirrings of hope in his gut. He’d once read a study that looked at patients from around the world with similar conditions. The authors of the study were theorizing that recovery rates, with all other factors being equal, were higher for those who had family and/or friends not only visiting them on a constant and consistent basis, but also speaking positively about the patient’s outcome. Those who didn’t have positivity surrounding them, or didn’t have visitors, had a much lower recovery rate — with many of those patients having relapses.
In the end Joseph knew love would carry Katherine over that final threshold back to where she belonged. The medicine would cure her body. Their love for her would cure her soul. She’d wake from this and come out stronger than before. Joseph’s job, for now, was to make sure the fear and despair didn’t suck him under. His wife needed him to be the man she’d married, not the man she’d first met.
He stood, walked to her bed, and kissed her cheek, telling himself it felt warmer today than when he’d first stepped inside her room days earlier.
“This nightmare will end,” he said, squeezing her hand before reluctantly letting go and walking away. His family would be waiting. There was much to do. The slight smile he wore as he stepped from her room was filled with hope. It was such a needed emotion. It was what would carry them through to the end.
Chapter Seventeen
Carl made it to Bobbi’s place in eight minutes. Then he sat in his car and made two phone calls. One just took a minute when he told Jon he was taking the next couple of days off work. The next one took ten minutes. But he kept his eyes on the apartment the entire time so he knew Avery was still inside. And both of these calls had been important.
He felt something for this woman — and he had no doubt she felt something just as strong for him. That meant they needed to find out what that was. The only way to do that was to take her away.
He was shocked to find he was nervous as he walked up the flight of steps to Bobbi’s front door. He’d been on missions where bullets were