"So here is where you've been hiding, Luca called, Jess is awake and asking for you, she's really upset that you're not there, she said it's because she has cancer that you don't want to be there" Alie said walking up behind Jay, she was right, Jay was on his knees with his hand on his deceased wife's tombstone
"I should have known she was sick before she left, the trainer wrote her back pain off as muscle fatigue, I should have spoke up, I knew the damage was there" Jay said, he'd clearly been crying
"Jay, what are you talking about" Alie asked concerned
"I knew how scared she was seeing her mum go through treatment for all those years, she never knew her mum to be healthy, she would have nightmares about getting sick with cancer herself, I didn't want her worrying about when it would happen, but I had to know" Jay said, he wasn't making any sense to Alie
"You had to know what" she asked
"When Jess's migraines started, she had to see a geneticist to get the diagnosis confirmed, they found a lot of damage and mutations in her genetic material because of the exposure she suffered in utero. This was before we met" Jay said looking up to his current wife
"So what happened" Alie asked crouching down to his level
"I asked them to map all the damage, I was told my baby girl had a 99% chance of developing cancer down the track, they just couldn't say when. She's a spitting image of her mum, how can I be there now and tell her I knew she would get cancer, those tumours would have been there before she left Alie, I failed her and I failed Sara" Jay said, the guilt he was feeling became to much for him to handle, it was why he was avoiding Luca and hadn't flown over
"You have failed no one, and why she looks like Sara, she has your personality and thinking, she will understand and forgive you, she always does, that night you pulled her off that cliff edge and got her scheduled, she hated you for days, but she forgave you, and with your help she got through it, same thing when she got home from Yemen, Doctor Masterson may be the one who handled the medical stuff, but it was you who got her through the other stuff, your strength and courage not to give up and work the problem, no matter how bleak the outlook is" Alie said pulling her husband close and letting him know Jess would never blame him for keeping that information from her, she probably didn't even remember seeing the doctor, she was only 5 when she had her first hemiplegic migraine after all
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"You took your time turning up" Luca said, he'd seen Jay and Alie walk into the ICU, Jess thankfully was asleep so Luca could walk out and confront Jay, find out what the hell had happened
"Luca, that's enough, Jay's here now and that's all that matters" Alie said sensing the hostility that had developed
"Yeah well you better have a good reason for abandoning her like that, what the hell was more important than being here" Luca said pointing towards the room Jess was asleep in
"Jess had a sore back before deployment, I allowed it to be ignored as I never told her about the high risk she had of developing cancer, if I had spoken up, she would most likely gone and had the imaging done, and it wouldn't have spread like it had" Jay said after taking a breath
"What do you mean high risk" Luca asked concerned
"Her exposure she suffered when Sara was pregnant, it caused damage and mutations to Jess's genetic material, I had it mapped when she was 5, she was given a 99% chance of developing cancer. At the time Jess was still having nightmares about getting cancer herself and having it do to her what it did to her mum, that fear has never gone away, I couldn't bring myself to tell her" Jay said explaining the situation
"And now" Luca asked curious
"I need to tell her, she deserves to know about the whole test that was done and what was found" Jay said looking over to the room where Jess was sleeping in, Alie was right, while Jess might be upset at him for a bit, it would pass with time, and all Jess would focus on is the fact he was there now