Ruth sat in front of her doctors desk feeling nervous. The doctor was being worryingly quiet so Ruth decided to break the silence.
"Look, I've been lying to my husband about these tests all week and I am about sixty seconds from losing my mind. I need you to tell me the results before I go completely insane. I've been coughing up blood so I know that something serious is wrong. Can you just tell me please?"
"Okay, well the test results are back and it shows that you have stage two lung cancer."
"You're joking right?" Ruth said blankly. The look on her doctors face made it clear that she was serious. No, I'm sorry, you must have got your results mixed with someone else."
"I know this is a shock and I'm really sorry I don't have better news." Ruth started laughing hysterically. "I can't have lung cancer. I can't. I am forty one years old. I take good care of myself. I have never smoked a cigarette in my entire life and you're telling me I have lung cancer? That's just…" her voice faded away. "You know what? That's just the way my luck goes. Waited eight years to be with the man I love and two months later I'm diagnosed with lung cancer. Perfect."
"You do still have treatment options…" the doctor continued but Ruth tuned out. She was still reeling from the bomb shell that had been dropped. She was still listening but in a rather detached way. She was going to have to tell Harry. Oh God. Ruth cut the doctor off and asked in a blunt voice.
"Tell me the truth," Ruth said. "Just be honest with me. What are my chances? Am I… Am I going to die?"
The doctor sighed. "If you chose not to have surgery or chemo treatment, you'll have roughly five months. With all the medical treatment we can give you, you might not survive anyway but you'll most likely have at least a year."
"If… I chose to have the treatment, what are my chances of survival?" Ruth asked looking at her hands. She couldn't face the friendly doctors face.
"You have about twenty five percent chance of survival." There was a very full silence.
"I'm going home," Ruth said blankly. "I'll be in touch." Ruth walked out of the doctors surgery in a daze. She felt the urge to cough but she fought it down. As if, if she didn't cough, her lung cancer would simply vanish.
When she got home she stared around her kitchen feeling empty, bewildered and horrified. She caught a blink of her reflection in the window and something inside her snapped. She screamed and flung the glasses and plates that were on the kitchen side onto the floor, sending broken shards of crockery everywhere. By the time her anger had burnt out her face was wet with tears she hadn't realised she had shed and her entire kitchen floor was covered with broken glass. Her shoes crunched on the floor as she pulled out a chair and collapsed onto it. She knew she should be thinking of herself but only one thought seemed to be running through her head. How was she going to tell Harry?
I know I am being really mean and I'm sorry! Even so can you please review?