Eric paused for the moment before knocking on Jess and Luca's front door, normally he would have called before coming out, and there was a distinct lack of cars so there was a real possibility that no one was home, he took a breath and knocked hoping someone was there and could explain the letter he'd received
"Up for a visitor" Eric asked as Jess answered the door, she was dressed in her usual attire but was wearing shorts instead of track pants
"Of course sir, come in" Jess said moving out of the way so her CO could walk in to the house
"Where's everyone else" Eric asked looking around curious as he slid his shoes off
"Dad took Luca to the warehouse, something about a new shipment, Laura is at work and Alie's taken Zah shopping, kid needs new clothes again, Cerbs is with them, and I had a home visit from Aubree, she left 5 minutes ago" Jess said explaining the lack of noise
"So you're home alone, Luca okay with that" Eric asked curiously, to his knowledge Luca hadn't left her side since she returned from Syria
"He's fine, Doctor Leighton said I'm a lot stronger now than I was 6 weeks ago when I was discharged, I've regained just over a third of the weight I lost, 23 pounds Aubree said when she weighed me, I'm not getting chills like I used to, and he will be back around 1300, that's what 90 minutes of me being left unsupervised, think I can survive without getting in to much trouble" Jess said with a smile, she was certainly looking a lot stronger to Eric
"So you're footloose and fancy free" Eric said with a chuckle, pleased to hear she was making a lot of improvement with her recovery as he followed her through the house and into her home office
"Hardly fancy free, I'm using the time to go over some personal stuff for when I see Rupert next" Jess said taking a seat in the big comfy office chair behind her desk, she had a pile of papers spread out and a reference book sitting on her desk which she'd been working from
"I'll keep it brief Jess, this just arrived from the MEB, I wasn't aware you had been in discussion with them" Eric said holding up the letter for her to see before noticing the humidifier sitting on the desk
"I haven't been, personally that is, but I knew my case was being discussed, and that Doctor Masterson and Doctor Leighton had submitted a draft management plan for pre-approval to get there opinion in case I decide to try and come back, it helps me clear my throat" Jess said explaining the situation and the reason the humidifier was on
"How were your last test results" Eric said relieved Jess hadn't officially approached the board yet about returning
"Currently there is no sign of cancer in my body and my blood work looks to be clear, but I need to still finish out my treatment, but the intensity has been reduced, if by the end of this treatment cycle there's still no sign of any cancer, I'm officially in remission, till next time anyway" Jess said trying to avoid eye contact when she mentioned the part about next time
"Next time, you think it will come back" Eric asked concerned trying to work out what Jess was thinking
"Eventually it most likely will, but it could be 2 years or 20, or longer still, no one knows, nature of having a LFS diagnosis unfortunately, mum ended up with new tumours every 6 months towards the end, no sooner they get rid of one, another one was there to take it's place" Jess said explaining the situation to her CO, her future was so uncertain because of this condition and she didn't feel like sugar coating the situation like they did for Zalie, Eric sat there stunned for a moment, he hadn't really thought about the fact Jess had LFS like her mother, he still saw her as just having cancer
"Advanced care planning for a terminal diagnosis, Jess I don't think you're at that stage yet" Eric said concerned glancing at the title of the book, was she giving up he quickly thought to himself
"I'm not, Rupert will just be helping me put together a legal document detailing where I'm willing to draw the line with regards to what treatment is administered in case my condition deteriorates again" Jess said calmly explaining the situation
"Are you regretting having the surgery done, or the one coming up" Eric asked still concerned, he couldn't tell how she was feeling
"What, no sir, but eventually a line needs to be drawn, and quite frankly I'd rather draw that line now then later" Jess said calmly but firmly
"Someone put you up to it" Eric asked
"Actually Joanna suggested it, as a way to feel in control and help manage my anxiety over ending up like mum" Jess said explaining to her CO this was an exercise from her psychologist she was undertaking
"Is Luca okay with you doing this, it's just you're doing it while he's not" Eric asked wanting to make sure he was going to be supportive
"He's fine with it sir, and I can always change my mind on certain aspects about it later if I want, the reason I'm doing this now is so Zah doesn't see me doing it, we don't want her worried about loosing me when she doesn't have to be, can I see the letter" Jess said calmly explaining her reasoning for doing this now, Zalie had been naturally asking a lot of questions about what was going on, Jess simply wanted to avoid unnecessary stress on her daughter, he assumed Jess would be using a lot of her own experience from dealing with her mum and what happened to guide her in dealing with Zalie. Eric handed the letter over
"What does it say" Eric asked curious to know the content
"After careful consideration and evaluation of her service record it has been determined that to replace an operator of Petty Officer Jessica Turner's level of skills would require a training period of at least 10 years of individual, intense training on top of a normal tier 1 operators training schedule, this recommendation is based on the fact that the operator in question would need an advanced level of proficiency in the field of languages, cultural awareness and sensitivity, history analysis, profiling, forensics, and EOD training at a minimum to even be considered as a suitable replacement for Bravo team, therefore it has been decided that retaining the services off Petty Officer Jessica Turner is in the best interests of the United States military and the DOD" Jess said reading the first part of the letter
"That means your back, fantastic" Eric said interrupting her, the ability to replace a person in the United States military was a huge factor in determining whether that person returned to duty in situations where there was a chronic medical diagnosis during the person's career, and whether there services were key with the ongoing fight against the war on terror
"Hang on there's more, however owing to her recent change in medical status we have decided to reclassify her from category 1A to 1B for a 2 year period of assessment but will provide a medical waiver to allow Petty Officer Turner to continue her duties as a member of DEVGRU. This assessment period will allow us to ascertain how Petty Officer Turner manages her condition while in theatre and if she can comply with the standards required to remain fully operational at category 1A. If at the end of the 2 year period it is felt that Petty Officer Turner is not able to meet the standards we set, then we will need to look at other options for her, including up to permanent removal from DEVGRU and reassigning her to another command, we are fully aware that there is a chance that Petty Officer Turner will develop further cancers down the track and we can assure you this will not factor in our decision at the end of the 2 year assessment as to whether she is capable of regaining her A1 deployment classification, our decision will be based on how she handles the situation within the guidelines provided, please find attached our list of guidelines that will need to be satisfied and our decisions on what would be considered acceptable from the list of suggestions you sent us that could be added to Petty Officer Turner's medical management plan" Jess said as she finished reading the letter, an A1 deployment classification was mandatory for DEVGRU as it meant she could be deployed without any restrictions on locations and could manage on her own, A2 on the other hand meant she could deploy with certain restrictions put in place, however if they were providing a waiver it meant they weren't going to say to her she couldn't go on a certain mission because of the location, they just needed to see she was still capable of looking after herself no matter where she was sent, remain healthy, not disrupt the teams ability to perform and do the job she was sent there to do, easy right
"Do you want to come back I suppose is the next question" Eric asking sensing some apprehension in Jess's emotional reaction to the letter, she'd been so eager after her injuries in Yemen to return to duty, but things were different for her now, this decision was not going to be as clear cut and he respected that, Jess had said it was basically guaranteed Jess would face cancer again, and this job took you away from home nearly 9 months of the year, would Jess prefer to spend her time closer to home so she could spend as much time as she could with Luca and Zalie, he didn't know
"I don't know, I haven't allowed myself to even think that far ahead yet" Jess said quietly after taking a minute to process her thoughts, this was the truth, and she hadn't expected to hear anything from the MEB so soon, she thought they would wait until after she had remission or was back from Italy
"What are you now in your treatment, week 9" Eric asked trying to think roughly where abouts Jess was standing with regards to Bravo starting their next rotation, that was often the breaking point when it come to operators making the decision to return to duty, if Jess was comfortable remaining behind and playing families while her brothers were getting shipped wherever, facing whatever threat, then the chances of Jess returning would get slimmer, if she made it through to the next block leave, then her chances of returning became non existent in Eric's experience
"Yes, with 6 weeks left, sir I would like to formally request you keep this news to yourself for the moment, until I make an official decision" Jess said seriously
"Of course" Eric said relieved she was thinking about it, she was going to handle this rationally and thoroughly consider her options instead of making a rash decision, hopefully the delay would result in a smooth transition back to duty Eric hoped silently
