Chapter 10 - THE SCAN THAT CHANGED THE PLAN
At twenty-two weeks, the new scans came back.
The primary mass had shrunk.
Several affected nodes had responded.
I saw hope on Emily’s face.
Then Dr. Brooks kept talking.
One area had not responded as expected.
They needed to alter the plan.
“How dangerous?”
I asked.
Emily looked at me.
I corrected myself.
“What do you want to know?”
She almost smiled.
“Everything.”
The physicians explained.
Treatment could continue.
The pregnancy could continue.
But the margin for waiting had narrowed.
Their goal became clear.
Get Emily and the baby safely as far into pregnancy as medically reasonable.
Then deliver.
Then intensify Emily’s treatment without pregnancy-related limitations.
A target appeared.
Thirty-two weeks.
Ten weeks.
My brain immediately converted it into days.
Seventy.
Emily saw my face.
“Do not make a countdown chart.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You absolutely were.”
“Maybe mentally.”
“No mission boards.”
“Understood.”
She pointed at me.
“No color-coded milestones.”
“That feels unnecessarily personal.”
“No laminated schedules.”
I sighed.
“There goes my entire coping system.”
Emily smiled.
Then Dr. Shah asked whether we wanted another look at the baby.
We did.
Our daughter moved across the screen.
Tiny hand.
Tiny profile.
Tiny heart beating furiously.
Emily whispered:
“She looks stubborn.”
“Obviously Mercer genetics.”
Emily raised an eyebrow.
“She is also half Collins.”
“Technically you’re still Mercer.”
Her face changed.
I regretted it instantly.
The divorce remained between us even when everything else felt temporarily forgotten.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily looked at the ultrasound.
“Maybe not forever.”
My heart stopped.
She looked at me.
“I said maybe.”
I breathed again.
“Understood.”
But for the first time—
there was a door.
Not open.
May you like
Not even unlocked.
But there.
