Jerrica gets the diagnosis of the one thing that most women fear.

October, the start of fall. The leaves are changing color on the East Coast and a new color appears. Pink, the color that tells everybody about a serious problem facing women, breast cancer and the importance of monthly self breast exams. People were talking about how their mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers were fighting and winning the battle against a disease that several years earlier was claiming the lives of women almost everyday.

While she showered, Jerrica was thinking of the last time she had checked, she tried to remember how to give herself a breast exam and if she knew how to do it correctly. She slowly reached up to touch her right breast. She held her right arm above her head and everything felt fine so she moved on to the left. There she felt the lump. It felt like a grape, only there shouldn't be one there.

She felt sick to her stomach. She was panicking. No, it can't be. She suddenly felt dizzy. Here she is in the shower thinking, 'Who's the dumbass that had the bright idea of recommending women do this in a slippery shower?'

Calm down. It's probably nothing. Calm down. Turn the shower off. Sit on the toilet. Calm down. Don't be a drama queen. It's probably just a cyst.

She tried to think of something else but failed to do so. All she thought about was that lump in her left breast. She decided to get ready for work, that would help keep her mind off what has her terrified at the moment.

She arrived at work to find recording contracts on her desk, at least that's something, right?

As she started to go through the contracts making sure the new bands got what they asked for, she couldn't help but think of what happened in the shower this morning.

She made it to 11:30 am, before the panic began to overtake her once again. She called her receptionist, Joanie and asked her to call Jem, Rio and the Holograms into her office. A knock on her door got her out of her thoughts. "Hey everyone. Thank you for coming." A tear begins to roll down her cheek, "Um, Kimber? Can you take over for a while?"

Kimber is shocked, "Sure, sis. May I ask why?"

Jerrica begins to cry, "I found a lump in my left breast this morning and I'm taking the rest of the day off. I'll let you know what the doctor said."

The girls hug Jerrica and gave her well wishes. Rio gave her a kiss and told her, "Whatever it is, Jerrica, you'll beat it. You hear me? You're a fighter. You are NOT alone in this, we'll help you. We love you, Jerrica."

She kisses Rio back, "I love you, too, Rio." She releases herself from his hug and turns to the other women, "Thank you for your support and encouragement, it means a lot." She says gathering her purse and jacket.

She needed to get this checked out. She needed to know, TODAY, that this was nothing. She needed to know NOW.

Arriving at the mansion, she actually cried for a moment. Wiping the tears away, she walked in and made a phone call to her doctor. They could get her in to see a nurse practitioner at two o'clock.

Relax. It's probably nothing.

Later that afternoon

Jerrica waited in an exam room for the nurse practitioner, who walks in a few minutes later. "Ms. Benton, what brings you here today?" The nurse asked.

Jerrica started crying again, "I...I found a lump." She says grabbing a tissue to wipe the tears away.

The nurse practitioner places her hand on Jerrica's arm and comforts her, "It's okay, take a deep breath. Eighty-five percent of these things actually turn out to be nothing." She explained to Jerrica. "Now lie back and I'll do an exam."

Jerrica removes her blouse and bra and lies down on the exam table. She can't help but think that the nurse wouldn't find anything. Maybe she imagined this whole thing. She also thinks this whole thing is embarrassing. She turns her head and blushes.

The nurse lingered in the same place on her left breast. "Hmm... It's probably just a cyst, could be inflamed. The skin feels a little warm to the touch, as well." She smiled at Jerrica assuringly. "I would like you to make an appointment for a mammogram just to be on the safe side. But I don't think there's nothing to worry about."

Jerrica got dressed and was about to leave the exam room when a thought ran through her head, 'What if it is cancer?' She began to cry again, the third time today.

A reprieve? No, not today, that would imply that this is just a delay. But the medical professional had told her not to worry. So, it wasn't a reprieve, at least not yet. But it wasn't an "all clear" either. She was sitting in the waiting room after her exam, she was on her phone scheduling a mammogram, hoping they could fit her in tomorrow but they had no openings. So, she scheduled an appointment for two weeks from now at 10:00 am. Well, that was another sign not to worry. If the nurse practitioner thought that this was serious she probably would have gotten Jerrica an appointment immediately.

She learned over the next two weeks how not to think about it, but it kept creeping into her mind.

Two weeks later...

Jerrica had taken the day off from work to have her mammogram. She never had one before, and she felt guilty about it. She was well over the age of 40, and should have done this already. Jerrica was a little nervous; she didn't know what to expect. But the whole procedure went off without a problem. She had redressed and asked the technician if she had seen anything, not realizing she wasn't allowed to say anything.

The technician answered, "Nothing jumps out at me."

'So, that's it? I'm just being silly, stressing over nothing?' She thought.

One week later...

Jerrica saw that she had a voicemail, her hand shook as she played the message, "Hello, Ms. Benton. I'm calling from the women's health center. The radiologist has reviewed your file and would like you to come in for additional images." The message ends and she collapses to the floor and cries.