Trisha smiled. “Good. She’s gone to a few job interviews today, as a matter of fact.”
“Yeah?” Jack asked. “That’s awesome.”
“Yeah, I sat down with her and helped her look for a few that might work. She’s just one of those people who had a turn of bad luck, but I’m positive we can help her get back on her feet.”
“Thank you,” Jack said.
“I should be thanking you. You gave her the first helping hand. I just took it from there.”
Relieved to hear about Diana doing so well, Jack turned back to Sam. “Hungry?”
Sam nodded. “Always.”
This made Jack chuckle. “Let’s go eat, then.”
* * *
Emma was checked in and sitting in the waiting room at the Women’s Wellness Center. She could still leave. Feigning a stomach bug would be the perfect excuse to get out of here.
Instead, she forced herself to stay seated. I’m doing this.
The waiting room door opened, and a nurse looked at her chart. “Emma?”
Emma felt wobbly as she stood and headed toward the nurse. “That’s me.”
“Right this way.” The nurse led her down a long hall of closed doors. Emma guessed that each had a woman inside, taking care of her health. In Emma’s book, that made those women smart and courageous. She was feeling short on courage right about now but followed the nurse into the last room on the left anyway.
Panic gripped her as the nurse shut the door.
“Have a seat, Emma. Let’s talk for a moment.”
She asked Emma a series of questions for the medical chart and jotted them on her form. Then the nurse stood and handed Emma a paper gown. “Put this on and Dr. Rivers will be in shortly.”
Emma clutched the paper gown, noticing the trembling of her hands. Hopefully the nurse didn’t see it. “Thank you.” She waited to move until the nurse closed the door behind her and left Emma alone. The room seemed small, closing in around her. She sat down with the paper gown and took several long, deep breaths.
It was just an annual checkup. No big deal.
“Emma?” Someone knocked on the door, and Emma jumped.
Dr. Rivers stepped inside and closed the door behind her, her gaze dropping to the untouched paper gown that Emma had yet to put on.
“Sorry. I haven’t had a chance to change yet,” Emma said. She was sitting with the gown in her lap, which she guessed made it obvious that she hadn’t made any effort toward doing so either.
“Are you okay?” Dr. Rivers asked.
Emma wanted to say yes, but she felt about as flimsy as the gown she was supposed to be wearing. “No.” Her whole body started shaking.
Dr. Rivers sat down in the chair in front of her. “You’ve put this checkup off this year. Sometimes you just have to push through things.”
“Rip off the Band-Aid,” Emma agreed.
“I get it. You’re worried because of your family history. You’re about the same age your mom was when she got sick.”
Emma sucked in a breath. She didn’t correct Dr. Rivers by pointing out it was actually the same age her mom had been when she’d died. “Something like that.”
Dr. Rivers reached for her hand. “Okay. Worst-case scenario. What if you do turn out like your mom?”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. “Then I die, I guess. Worst case.”
Dr. Rivers nodded. “Or fight.”
“My mom fought,” Emma pointed out. Her mom had fought against her illness, and everyone around her had rallied.
“She did, but there are new treatments now. And catching any kind of illness early can be key in a prognosis.”
Emma shrugged. “You said worst-case scenario. That’s death.”
Dr. Rivers smiled softly. “You’re right. That’s death. And if it’s the worst case, it’s going to happen either way, right? But let’s say the next-to-worst case. That would call for a fight, and you can’t fight if you don’t know what you’re up against.” Dr. Rivers shrugged. “But best-case scenario, you’re completely healthy and worried for nothing. Then you can stop worrying.”
Emma sucked in a breath, followed by another. After a moment, she nodded. “Okay. Well, let’s do this and see which it is.”
Dr. Rivers nodded. “Emma, since you’re here, I’d like to order some extra tests if you’re willing. Genetic tests can tell you if you have the genetic mutation linked to breast cancer. I suspect that, even if you get a clean bill of health today, you’ll still worry. This genetic test would give us more information. If you have the mutation, we can discuss measures to improve your