Page 104 of Misery and Ecstasy

“I wish you’d try to eat something.” Kins sits next to me at the dining room table, sipping her coffee. She’s as green as the fucking Grinch.

“I promise, I’m fine with my coffee. It’ll help settle my stomach. I swear.”

Atticus, Saxon, Ronin, and Zephyr are all seated at the table, finishing their eggs and bacon. I’m sure the smell isn’t helping her. The rest of the club has already eaten and are getting ready for the drive to Baltimore today. When we got home last night, Royce informed us of the club’s intention to see us safely down to the city.

“Kins, listen.” Turning fully in my chair, I face her, tugging her legs between mine so I have her full attention. “Nothing bad can come of this appointment. When we leave his office today, we will either be exactly where we are now or have a better course of action than the one we got from Dr. Reeves.”

“No, I know.” She squeezes my knee. “I was content to do my chemo and radiation and live out whatever life I have left. But that phone call is trying to instill a hope in me that I’m not sure I want to have. It’s hard not to, with the reputation of the doctors at Hudson.”

“I know. I’m fighting to not do the same.” Kissing her gently, our conversation ends. There isn’t much more to say that we haven’t already said to one another.

McKinsey finishes her coffee as the remaining guys polish the food from their plates.

“Good luck today, McK.” Delilah calls out from the living room.

I rub at the pang in my chest when I see Kins return her smile. Despite how sick she is, she’s still the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen

Royce is by Delilah’s side, pulling her in for a hug before kissing her goodbye.

“Okay, let’s get ready to roll out!” he shouts to everyone still left in the house. “Caravan’s leaving in five.”

* * *

Hudson James Hospital couldn’t be more different from both Gettysburg and Park.

Ronda, a patient coordinator, has been glued to our side the entire time, providing step-by-step expectations at every turn of our visit, making the past three hours fly by.

Thisis the level of communication I expect to have in every medical facility. Clearly, this hospital runs on a much heftier budget than the small-town facilities at home.

Other than the shock on her face when the eleven of us first walked through the front doors, she hasn’t missed a beat. She seemed extremely relieved when I assured her the rest of the club would be waiting for us outside until the appointment was over.

I rub my hand down McKinsey’s leg, trying to relax it enough to steady the anxious bobbing it’s been doing since Ronda dropped us off in the waiting room forty-five minutes ago. With Kins’s new MRI concluded, we’ve been biding our time until we finally get to meet with Dr. Faust.

Another five minutes goes by before Ronda comes back for us. She leads us into a fancy office with furniture that looks like it costs more than the entire clubhouse.

“Please take a seat and make yourselves comfortable.” Ronda waves us toward the couch on the far wall of the room.

It’s situated between two large, wooden bookshelves matching those behind the impressive desk that sits in front of a huge window overlooking the entire city.

“Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”

Kins is quiet, so I answer for us both. “No, thank you. But we appreciate it.”

“Dr. Faust should only be a few more minutes.” Ronda smiles before leaving us again.

When Kins walks to the window instead of sitting down, I join her. We’ve been sitting forever. As we silently look out over the city, I reach down to take her hand in mine.

“Thanks so much for your patience.” We turn toward the voice, seeing a man walk into the office. “I’m Dr. Faust.”

After shaking each of our hands, he invites us to sit down to discuss the results of today’s MRI.

I pull out a chair for Kins before dropping into the one next to it. She remains stoic, leaning against the seat back while I arch forward with my elbows on the edge of his desk, anxiety igniting every cell in my body.

When he has the image up on his computer, he turns the monitor around so we can all see it.

“Holy shit.” The image on the screen looks nothing like the one we saw at Park. “My eyes are far from trained to look at these things, but even I can tell there’s a huge difference between this one and her initial scan.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Grabbing his mouse, Dr. Faust outlines the tumor on the screen. “While the shape and size of the tumor remains the same, this area here was fuzzy on the scan from Park.”

---