The door to the office opened and Tania lifted her head from Chibs' shoulder.
"Tania," the doctor said, smiling and holding out her hand, "I'm Dr. Shaw. It's nice to meet you."
Tania reached for Dr. Shaw's hand and shook it and managed to muster up a little bit of a smile. "It's nice to meet you too," Tania said quietly.
Dr. Shaw looked over at Chibs and smiled and nodded her head. "Nice to see you again Mr. Telford."
Chibs nodded at her in response and shook her hand as well. "What's the word doc?" Chibs asked nervously.
"Well..." Dr. Shaw replied hesitantly, sitting down across from the two of them, "I've taken a look at your records and the scans and the final test that your other doctor did right before you left. What did he tell you?"
Tania looked down at her little hand resting in Chibs' hand and she could feel the bile rising up in her throat. "The doctor told me that I had stage III Ovarian Cancer," Tania squeaked, "Is this not true?"
"It was," Dr. Shaw replied, looking at Tania with concern, "What you have is a fast progressing cancer Tania. You have progressed to a stage IV in a very short amount of time."
"What the hell does that mean?" Chibs snapped. Tania squeezed his hand in hopes of getting him to calm down.
"It means that we have to act fast," Dr. Shaw responded, "I know he told you that we wouldn't have to operate, but now we are going to have to. I am very confident that if we remove the ovaries a good portion of the cancer will be gone as well and then treatment won't be as intensive."
Tania wasn't phased by this information. She had every confidence that Dr. Shaw would get the job done. She wasn't upset that her ovaries would have to be removed. She just wanted to be happy and healthy. She had a wonderful family, two beautiful children and a incredibly sexy man by her side. There wasn't much else that she could want or need in her life.
"So what do we have to do?" Tania asked.
"Well, I would like to do one more PET scan today if you are available," she replied, "I will order the results on an expedited basis. I just want to see where else the cancer is besides your ovaries, if it has spread. Right after that I would like to get you in for surgery within the next week and do one last scan. If it comes back clear then we will just monitor you for a couple months and do another scan. If there is a glow then we will have to treat it."
Tania looked up at Dr. Shaw in disbelief. "It's that easy?" Tania asked hopefully.
"It could be that easy Tania," Dr. Shaw responded cautiously, "to take it out and not have to treat you is what I hope for. But it could very well go in the opposite direction, but I'm optimistic that we will get it. We just need to be aware of both outcomes."
"I understand," Tania replied quietly, her heart sinking a little bit. Chibs squeezed her hand and she looked up at him, trying her hardest to hold back the tears. She should have known better than to think this would be an easy situation.
"Are you ok love?" Chibs asked her quietly. Tania shook her head and swiped at a couple tears that had escaped. "No," Tania replied, "But I will be."
"I have to be honest with you two about this," Dr. Shaw said sympathetically, "I am optimistic, but this is still a very serious and concerning case."
"I understand," Tania replied, "We appreciate the honesty. It's just not what we were expecting." "It seldom is," Dr. Shaw replied with a small smile. Tania looked at Dr. Shaw and it was almost like that comment was planned. In the last two days two things happened to Tania that she never thought would happen to her. Dr. Shaw smiled at her and then looked down at her folder. "It looks to me like you have a very solid support system," Dr. Shaw stated eyeing Chibs quickly. "Couldn't ask for better," Tania replied confidently.
"So when did you get back to Charming Tania?" Dr. Shaw asked as she continued to write her notes. "I just moved back yesterday," Tania replied quietly, "It feels good to be back with family. I don't think I could have done this by myself out in Phoenix."
Dr. Shaw looked up from her notes and smiled. "I heard about everything that happened," Dr. Shaw said quietly and sympathetically, "I started working at St. Thomas about two weeks after you moved away. I'm sorry about Opie, it sounds like he was a very special part of the club and the community."
"Thank you," Tania replied with a small smile, "He was very special to everyone who knew him."
The three of them sat in the office in silence for a couple minutes while Dr. Shaw filled out some forms. "Alright, if you could just sign these forms with respect to the PET scan, then we can get started," Dr. Shaw stated after a couple minutes. Tania quickly signed the forms and handed them back to the doctor. "Perfect," she replied, "I'm going to prep the room and a nurse will come and get you ready shortly. We will get this done and you will be out of here in no time."
Tania nodded her head in response and then laid her head on Chibs' shoulder. This appointment was taking a lot out of her. She just hoped that this process would go the easy way and that she could move on with her life.
A couple hours later Chibs pulled Tania's car into Gemma's driveway and turned to look at Tania who hadn't even made it two minutes in the car before falling asleep. He gently ran a hand through her hair and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He was amazed at how quickly his feelings for her came back. And he was surprised that she felt the same way for him. He felt lucky to be able to be the person that she chose, in this situation, to take care of her.
Chibs got out of the car as Gemma walked out of the house. "How did it go?" she asked him after he quietly closed his door. "It could go one of two ways," Chibs replied, pulling a cigarette out of his Kutte pocket, "Good, or not good."
Gemma rolled her eyes at his response and looked at Tania in the passenger seat. "She's pretty tired huh?" Gemma stated. "Exhausted," he replied, "I think no matter how hard she tries, she never gets enough sleep lately. This cancer is progressing quickly Gem. It went from stage III to stage IV in a matter of weeks. She's terrified, I'm terrified. Now that I've got her, I'm terrified to lose her."
"Shit," Gemma mumbled before grabbing the smoke from Chibs' mouth and taking a long drag. "Help yourself Gem," he grumbled with a hint of a smile.
"I thought maybe I would ask Tania to move in with me," Chibs said, "But I'm not sure if that is too much too soon, or maybe it would be better for her to stay with you so you can keep a better eye on the kids when she can't." "I think Tania would love it Chibs," Gemma replied with a small smile, "But I think just hold off for a little while and wait and see what the prognosis is in a few weeks. Wait for her to adjust to her new life and then ask. Besides, I'm more than happy to take care of Hunter and Savi right now." "I figured you'd say that," Chibs replied.
A couple minutes later Chibs dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. "Well, I should get her into bed," Chibs said, rubbing his hands on his jeans, "She will probably be out for the rest of the afternoon. I've got some club business to take care of, but if you need anything or if Tania needs me, please call." "I will baby," Gemma replied, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "She is lucky to have you in her life Chibs."
"More like I'm lucky to have her in mine," he replied as he lifted Tania out of the care and walked towards the front door of the house. Gemma opened the door for him and he walked down the hallway to her bedroom. He laid her down and kissed her forehead. "I love you sweet girl," Chibs whispered.
He stood and watched her for a couple minutes before he quietly left her room.
*So I know it's a pretty short chapter, but I'm back and writing again. Here's hoping that it lasts for awhile this time. I hope you guys enjoy this short teaser of a chapter and I will continue to write. Unfortunately, my mind is running a little blank with respect to this story, so if any of you have any ideas on where this should go, please send them my way. I would love to incorporate some of your input into this story. Thanks for Reading!