A/N: Deep breathe, people. The past chapters aren't angst...not by my standard. Stick with me.
Chapter Twenty-One: Boom Clap
Boom-Clap!
Silence as loud as thunder strikes the room, filling every corner and space and all the infinite in-betweens with deafening quiet. I forget to breathe; I'm sure Edward does as well.
When at last my lungs scream in pain for air, my quivering lip falls from my between my teeth and a strangled, gasping cry escapes as I body reacts to the news. The doctor focuses on me with pitying eyes. He deals with this - the telling part - everyday. I don't. I never thought I'd come to this place.
It's stage two. We've caught the cancer early, and there's a great chance we can beat it. The doctor has recommended an aggressive treatment: a double mastectomy, radiation, a clean diet.
I can beat this.
Fuck, I will beat this.
Jameson is at his friend's house this afternoon, a fellow second grader who has a whole and healthy Mommy. Nothing like me. Not this mess I am.
I look up to Edward, sitting so silent one would think he's a statue. But there's that twitch in his jaw that he gets when he's so angry he's about to burst, but refuses the temptation. I know he's holding it in for my sake, but I'm numb; I'm outside my damaged body and am looking on from another place in the room.
We travel home in continued silence. There's an unmistakeable tension between us. It's the part where he should tell me we'll get through this together - we'll be okay. But it's not. He goes ahead of me into the house without waiting or holding the door - something he's never done - and I have to run to keep up with him.
When I open the door, he's standing with his arms against the wall and his head hanging between. He's thinking of Alice, I know. He'll never admit that, not on the day his wife gets such perilous news. I want to remind him these two cancers, though both terrifying, are not the same. But there's no use. Not right now.
He's as broken as I am, and we both need our moment of reflection before we attack this thing and kick its ass.
xxxxxxx
A/N: **holds you all on my shoulder as you cry** **wipes your noses** Don't freak out. xoxo, Q