"Mom, I don't see why you had to come with me. This is just a routine follow-up to my tests." Erin looked over at her eldest daughter, Chelsea, and just shook her head. "What?"
"You are my child, Chelsea. Of course I want to be here. And I'm worried about you, I really am." Erin reached out and covered her daughter's knee with her hand. "Honey, I had the hardest time waking you up this weekend. I know you've been having a rough time with your classes, but this is much more serious than pulling an all-nighter and being exhausted the next few days."
Chelsea nodded and picked up her hand, squeezing tightly. "You can be nervous for me, then. I have to finish this paper for my linguistics course, and I'm only on page six of thirty. I have no idea why I chose to focus on the issues of metonymy featured in Flannery O'Connor's short stories. There is so much data there that I could easily end up with fifty pages or more."
Erin just nodded, the conversation meaning nothing to her. She had been a history and political science major in college, and while she loved that her daughter was so intelligent, she wished she understood half of what she said about the English language. "That's nice, honey. Just remember to get me a cheat sheet so that I can being to catch up on what you know."
Her daughter smiled as Erin's phone went off. "Ooh, is that your Davie-poo?" Erin felt her face flush bright red as she pulled her phone out.
"Hello. What do you need, David?"
"You sound a little irritated. Did I do something that I didn't know about?" He sounded concerned and she smiled dreamily at her phone.
"No, I'm at the doctor's, waiting on some tests."
"You didn't tell me that. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, it's not for me. It's Chelsea. She's been extremely fatigued lately, and she says that she's achy."
"And you are more terrified than you're letting on. Do you want me to come there and wait with you two?"
She sighed happily. When they had begun this relationship in May, she had expected it just to be about instant pleasure, about sex whenever they wanted it. And then he had been the first one to drop the love-bomb. Sure, it had come after that woman had joined the BAU, but still, he had told her he loved her. "No, darling, just be here tonight."
"Whatever you need from me. I was actually calling to see what you wanted for supper. You seemed to like that veal and eggplant parmesan that I made last week."
"That does sound delicious."
"What's Davie-poo making for supper, Mom? Is it going to be good?" Chelsea interrupted and she pulled her hand free to swat her daughter's shoulder. "Ow! That is so child abuse!"
"Let me guess, Chelsea wants to come over, too."
"That's what I'm getting from her. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Of course. I love you."
"I love you, too." She hung up and set the phone to silent before shoving it back in her pocket. "You can come to supper, too, Chelsea."
Her daughter grinned at her. "Davie-poo loves me almost as much as he loves you."
"I wish you would stop calling him that. You know I blush every time you do."
Chelsea giggled. "That's why I do it. You never used to react like that, when you were drinking. I got you back, Mom, and I'm not going to let go of that any time soon." Erin felt her throat clog with tears as she nodded. Her daughter turned to her and hugged her tightly. "I love you, Mom, and I just wish I had been able to help you."
She was about to say something to her daughter when the nurse came out. "Chelsea Strauss?" They stood and followed her back to an exam room. Erin was surprised that the woman didn't take Chelsea's vitals and she clenched her hand into a fist to keep from asking. "Dr. Byers will be by in about five minutes to speak with you."
They nodded in tandem and Erin sat next to her daughter on the exam table. "Mom? If something is really wrong, would you mind if I moved back home?"
"Of course you can come home, honey." Erin reached for her hand once more, and Chelsea threaded her fingers between hers. "But, I'm going to trust you not to come into the bedroom without knocking first."
"Mom!"
"What? You don't like it when I embarrass you?" she teased gently, nudging shoulders with her.
"No." Chelsea huffed with impatience as Erin laughed, squeezing her daughter's hand tightly. The door to the room opened and they both looked up to see Dr. Byers walk in, a pensive look on her face. "Long time, no see, Dr. Byers," she tried to joke and Erin knew by the half-smile that crossed the woman's face that something was seriously wrong.
"Is it all right that I talk about this in front of your mother? I am going to be asking some very sensitive questions, Chelsea."
"My mom and I have a great relationship. We can talk about anything."
The woman nodded. "All right, then. I'd like you to think about your personal history in the last few years. From looking at your medical records, I can see that you haven't had any blood transfusions, so that rules out the first option. Have you done any illegal drugs? I know that there is that box to check off on your yearly physical form, but people lie."
Erin swallowed hard, not sure if she wanted to hear what her daughter was about to say. "I can honestly say that I have never taken any sort of illegal drug. Nor have I shared needles with anyone. What's wrong? Do I have HIV?"
The fear in her daughter's voice tore at Erin's heart and she fought back the tears that were threatening to fall. "No, no, it's not HIV. From your blood work, I have diagnosed you with having Hepatitis C. And it appears as if you caught it from a sexual partner, since you have had no exposure to the other two forms of transmission."
"What sort of treatment are we looking at, Dr. Byers?" Erin asked hesitantly, letting go of Chelsea's hand to wrap her arm around her waist, holding her close.
"Right now, I'd like to start you on antiviral drugs to try and knock it out of your system. If that works, wonderful, we'll treat it that way. If not, you're looking at a liver transplant."
Erin blanched at the notion of her daughter undergoing such a major surgery at twenty five and sent up a quick prayer that the medicine would do its job. "When would you like me to begin the medicine regimen?"
"Tomorrow. I've already written your prescription up and had it filled at the hospital pharmacy. The receptionist will give it to you when you make your next appointment. I'll need to see you in two weeks' time, and that will tell us how we should proceed."
They both nodded and Dr. Byers left the room. Chelsea turned to her and promptly burst into tears. "Mommy…"
Erin opened her arms and her daughter collapsed into her embrace. She gently rubbed her back as she murmured in her ear. "Honey, you're going to be okay. I'll take care of you. Let's get the medicine and then run by your apartment and pack up a bag." Chelsea nodded against her shoulder, but didn't let go of her. "We have to get moving if we want to do that, precious."
"I know." She took a deep breath and stood up, reaching out for her mother's hand. "Don't let me go?"
"Never, precious." She led her out to the receptionist and paid for the appointment before taking the bottle of pills from the woman's hand. "Now, let's head out." She guided her daughter out to her car and helped her in the passenger seat. The entire drive to the apartment, her daughter cried and Erin felt her heart break all the more. And then the first craving hit and she shuddered. She would not let alcohol win this time, she would be strong for her family.