"Jess, do you understand what I've just told you" Doctor Newman said to her, Jess was sitting up on the bed with her knees pulled up into her chest and her head turned away from the doctor, the tone of her voice indicated she was trying not to cry, this was not the type of news she had been expecting to hear, she'd been feeling lousy, but it had been easily explainable in her mind
"Yes, but I don't want my brothers knowing about it, can't you find a way not to tell them" Jess said softly feeling guilty about the diagnosis, she was so stupid in her mind for not speaking up, she didn't want them worried about something they couldn't change
"I don't have to report to anyone besides your CO, but you'll need to go home to begin treatment, so you're going to need to explain your absence, why don't we call your CO over first to discuss the situation" Doctor Newman suggested
"Okay" Jess said after thinking about it for a few minutes, she knew that Eric would respect her wish for privacy with this
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"Doctor Newman, you wanted to speak to me" Eric said spying the doctor as he walked into the infirmary, the call he had received from Doctor Newman had been vague on details, just asking him to come to the infirmary alone
"I did Lieutenant Commander Blackburn, I'll get you to come through here so we can talk in private" Doctor Newman said to Eric indicating to his office
"I'm guessing this is about Jess, Petty Officer Turner" Eric said after they had entered and the doctor had closed the door
"Yes, her test results are back, she's not comfortable with anyone else from Bravo knowing what the results are, however SOP is that you need to be informed" Doctor Newman started to say, Eric knew that something had obviously happened
"Bad news" he asked
"Unfortunately, so I'm going to come right out and say it, Petty Officer Turner has advanced cancer, images show 3 tumours, and its potentially in her blood as well" Doctor Newman said, there was no other way to word it to soften the blow, Eric's head was now full of questions he wanted answers too
"Damn it, where is she" Eric muttered, feeling like he'd been kicked in the gut by the doctors words
"In acute observation, I'm sending the results stateside and then I'll put in a urgent medevac request, she seems quite calm at the moment, but it may also be a front. Now I obviously have no authority to prevent you from releaseing this information about Petty Officer Turner's diagnosis to people, but I would encourage you to respect her wishes and work together to find a way to get through this initial step" Doctor Newman said cautioning Eric that he was likely entering dangerous territory
"Understood Doctor Newman" he said, he had no intention of violating Jess's privacy over this, he just wanted to help
"I'll show you where she is" Doctor Newman said getting up to show Eric where to go
"Jess, how you doing" Eric asked as he entered the cubicle, the curtains had been pulled around to give Jess some privacy and the lighting was on low, he could see that she was hooked up to fluids and had a feed on the go, she was laying with her back to her CO and a blanket pulled up over her shoulder, Jess was clearly comfortable so he quickly moved into a position so she wouldn't have to move
"Okay I guess, you can't tell the others, they can't risk getting distracted before" Jess said softly before she started crying, she had every intention of telling her brothers obviously, but she wanted them focused on their job here, not what was going on with her, they could be told as they were getting ready to leave and that would be fine by Jess
"I won't tell them the full story, but I'm going to have to give them something to keep them happy, how about we only tell them part of the story, leave out the fact that the cancer is advanced, and that you've got multiple tumours" Eric said trying to quickly think of an option, which ever way they looked at it, Jess was on her way home to receive treatment for this, the others had to be told something, he noticed a pile of notes and images sitting on the table, as he flicked through he saw that the images were internal pictures of Jess's interior, the tumours were clearly visible, even to his untrained eye, the notes were the written results, they'd measured the tumours the best they could
"The laryngeal tumour, Trent brought me in to get the bruising and swelling checked from where Abdullah had me around the throat" Jess said, she'd already thought about different ways of what to tell the rest of the team, in case she had to hell them something
"Good idea, do you want to call home first, talk to Luca and your parents first before you tell the others, or I can tell them if you want" Eric said trying to provide support the support Jess needed to get things started, getting hold of Luca and her parents was her first step if she didn't want anyone else from Bravo knowing. They'd be able to give her support as soon as she got back stateside
"Dad and Alie are back in Sydney for a bit, they're trying to decide if they're going to keep Sydney as their main base, or Vah Beach, Luca will have to tell them what's happening, can you tell the others, I don't know how" Jess started to say before Eric interrupted her, the thought of calling Luca was already distressing to her, telling Bravo himself would relieve some of that stress, so Eric was happy to do that part for her
"You make the call to Luca, I'll tell the others about the tumour being on your larynx and that's it until we're on the plane home, then I'll tell them about the other stuff, but Trent will probably find out earlier as he'll be in communication with Doctor Masterson" Eric said as he squeezed Jess's arm gently, he was going to need his own ally with keeping this a secret for the next 6 weeks, and he had very little understanding of medical terminology. He'd listened to Luca and Trent have conversations, and it was nearly like they spoke a foreign language when it came to using medical terminology, and there was no way Eric was going 6 weeks without getting an update, he'd need Trent to translate
"As long as he keeps it to himself until you're getting ready to leave" Jess said
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"Boss, what brings you to our neck of the woods" Brock said surprised to see their CO enter the rec room Bravo was habbitating in
"I was just in the infirmary speaking with Jess and Doctor Newman about Jess's test results" Eric said standing there
"Her test results are back, why wasn't I informed" Trent said suddenly curious
"Something's wrong with Bookworm isn't it" Sonny said sensing Eric's emotions
"Eric" Jason said picking up on the same feeling as the Texan
"You all need to keep your emotions under control when you see her, getting worked up, emotional or anything like that won't help her, or change the situation. We just need to deal with it and remain focused on our job till we get home" Eric said warning them of his expectations about their behaviour with this
"How bad is it sir" Ray asked
"Jess has cancer, they've found a tumour on her larynx, its why her breathing was so compromised by what happened with Abdullah" Eric said, he'd been practising that line in his head the whole way over here, wanting to make sure he didn't say anything else that would make the team suspicious
"Of course, her airway would already be partially obstructed most likely, the swelling and bruising would only be adding to the strain" Trent said putting the two things together
"So what's happening now, I'm guessing she's going home" Clay asked
"Doctor Newman is organising a medevac flight as we speak, she was on the phone to Luca when I last saw her, this has hit her really hard so why don't you give her some space, for another hour or so before you all go barging in there" Eric said, the boys were about to open their mouths and protest, they wanted to be over there in the infirmary now before Trent spoke up
"Look, her gear needs to be packed, she'll be able to take some of it with her, the rest we will need to bring home with us" Trent said to the others, there was things they could do to fill in the time, give Jess a chance to finish her call home
"The marines out of our barracks yet" Jason asked Eric
"They left camp 2 hours ago" Eric said
"Right let's get to it" Ray said as they went to migrate to Jess's barracks she'd been sharing with Sargent Gonzalez to get her gear packed up
"Trent, a word" Eric said indicating that he wanted the medic to remain behind
"I'll meet you lot at her barracks" Trent said letting the others know it was okay to head on
"What I'm about to tell you, is in strictest confidence, no one else is to know until we leave" Eric said as soon as they were out of the room
"Yes sir, something else is going on isn't it" Trent said sensing Eric's extra concern
"Jess's cancer, the test results show its already spread, and its most likely in her blood as well, she doesn't want the rest of you to know yet, so you don't get distracted, however you're going to still be in discussion with Aubree and Doctor Masterson, and I'm going to need a medical translator, I've no intention of going 6 weeks without a clear understanding of what's going on" Eric said explaining the situation and why he was telling Trent and not the others
"Do you know where the cancer has spread to" Trent asked curious
"Not the exact details, I can only say roughly where it is from what I saw in the pictures, they found 3 separate masses, one is in her pelvis region around here, one here and then the one on her larynx" Eric said pointing out the approximate locations on his body
"Damn, well at least she's not going home to no one, she'll have Luca there for support" Trent said taking in the severity of the locations Eric pointed out, Jess's GI tract was most likely compromised with both locations in her abdomen
"You're opinion of the guy has come a long way since we first met him in Dempasar" Eric said surprised at Trent's easy acceptance over Jess being sent home early for treatment, and Trent wouldn't be able to be there straight up, and the fact that he had mentioned Luca over Jay really drove it home that Trent trusted the guy to look after her
"We over reacted, however this will allow us to see exactly how much he loves her, if he walks away from her with this" Trent said, that final remark about walking away however, that was a warning that they would hunt the guy down themselves
"I know, I feel the same way at the moment, we just have to wait and see how he goes" Eric said, he was nervous about not being there, but it would allow him the chance to see how strong their relationship was first hand, if they could get through this, they could get through anything