Chapter 28

ANNA

Two hours. That’s how long it’s been since they took Liv into surgery. I know it’s a routine procedure, but as a mom, I’m scared out of my mind.

What if something goes wrong?

~Stop it. Don’t let your mind go there.~

My parents—Becca and Jack—are at home right now. They needed to freshen up and grab a bite to eat before coming back.

Tomorrow being Monday, Dad will be back at school and Mom will be back at work.

I need to get in touch with my professors and Dr. Jasmine. I can’t stay in Sun Peaks indefinitely. We have a life, school, a business, and jobs to return to.

I hope we can manage from there. There has to be a way to juggle everything.

I’ll miss my parents, but we can visit each other. James is sorting things out with his COO at the moment.

Let’s just say his COO isn’t thrilled that James has been MIA for the past few days. James is a private guy and hasn’t told his COO, John, about Olivia or her condition.

I respect James’ decision to keep his personal life separate, but I wonder how long he can maintain it. He’s going to need to lean on John more and more, given what’s ahead. We need to be there for our daughter.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back, John,” he tells him over FaceTime.

“James, we need you here in Seattle. I can’t handle everything on my own.”

James sighs, running his fingers through his hair.

“I can’t be there right now, okay? My family needs me. It’s a tough time for us. I need you to hold down the fort a little longer. Once we have some answers from the doctor, I’ll be back. Okay?”

“I don’t get why you have to be there, James. Your parents are grown-ups. I’m sure you can manage things from here.”

“It’s not about my parents, John. It’s about my daughter. Olivia.”

“Wait, you have a daughter? With who?”

“With Anna. You remember Anna, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Oh man, I’m sorry, dude. Is she okay? It’s something minor, right? Like a broken bone?”

James just shakes his head. “No, it’s not minor. I wish it was. It’s cancer, John. They’re putting in a port-a-cath right now, and then we’ll start treatment.

“But since the doctors here are the ones who diagnosed her, we have to stay here until we know more. We don’t know when we can come back. You get that, right?”

“Of course I get it. When will you know more?” he asks, sounding concerned.

~I can hear the worry in his voice. I bet he’s never had to run the company for three days straight before.~

We all know how tough cancer can be to beat. Survival rates are much higher than they were in the 70s or 80s, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a battle.

James ends the call with a sigh.

“I really hope we can go back to Seattle. It’s not that I don’t like it here…,” he starts, but I know what he’s trying to say.

“But our lives are in Seattle, and here we’re constantly reminded of the past?” I finish for him.

I know him better than he sometimes realizes, but I know what he’s feeling this time because I feel the same. I’ll miss my parents, but I know where I need to be.

We need to move on with our lives without being constantly reminded of everything that happened here.

We’re grateful—grateful for what we have here, and grateful that the doctors here figured out what’s wrong with Liv.

But I don’t want to be here. Cancer is a nightmare, but James and I aren’t the type to let something like this knock us down. It makes us want to live our lives even more fiercely.

“A,” James says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yes?” He comes over to me. As I gaze out the window, he wraps his arms around me.

“Do you want to stay here?” he asks, but I know he already knows the answer.

I shake my head. “I don’t. I’ll miss Mom and Dad, your parents, and everyone else, but I can’t stay here much longer. No matter how much I pretend to be okay, I’ll always be haunted by what my adoptive parents did.

“How they told me everything, and how it feels like I never mattered to them. And right now, it’s still so raw. I don’t want to run into them again. I can’t handle that on top of everything else.”

“I get it. We also have our lives back in Seattle. School, the business, the bakery,” he adds.

I nod, but I know there’s more to it than that. Our lives mean nothing without Liv.

“None of that really matters though. Not my fears, not school, not the business, or the bakery. The only thing that matters right now is Liv,” I say.

“You’re right, baby. If we need to be here, then we’ll be here.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to, but if it’s necessary, then so be it,” I say, resigned.

God, I hope Olivia comes back soon. The suspense is unbearable. I just want my baby girl back in my arms.

And just like that, as if I’d said a magic spell, nurse Sarah and Dr. Jasmine arrive, wheeling Olivia back into the room.

“Hi, guys,” they greet us in unison.

“How did it go?” I ask, my voice shaky.

Dr. Jasmine smiles, and I glance over at Olivia. She’s still asleep from the surgery. She looks so peaceful.

“It went perfectly. She did great,” she assures me.

A wave of relief washes over me. “Thank God.”

“So, what’s our next move?” I ask.

“The main thing for the next week is to keep that wound clean and prevent infection. Once it’s healed a bit, we can start treatment.”

James and I move closer to her. “Does the treatment have to be done here?” I ask.

She looks at us, surprised. “Are you looking for a different doctor?” she asks, taken aback.

“No, no, not at all. We’re happy with you, Dr. Jasmine. It’s just that we don’t live here. We’re from Seattle,” I clarify.

“Seattle?” I nod in confirmation.

“Yeah, James runs a business there and I’m in college. I had Olivia when I was really young.”

“Ah, I see. So how did you end up in this middle-of-nowhere town?” she asks, chuckling.

“We both grew up here. My adoptive parents live here. Liv was getting sicker and no one could figure out what was wrong with her until you came along. So I had to come back for answers. Family history.

Then I discovered I was adopted. So we started looking for my biological parents. Just after we found them, Liv got even sicker and we had to rush her here.”

“Wow, that’s quite a story.”

“And that’s just the short version,” a voice chimes in.

“Jack?” “Dad?” Jasmine and I say simultaneously.

He strides into the room, heading straight for Liv and planting a kiss on her forehead.

“How’s she doing?” he asks.

“She’s okay, Dad. She did great. But now we’re discussing her treatment and whether she can go back to Seattle. I have school and we both have work,” I explain, my voice heavy with sadness. I know this must be hard for him.

He gives me a sad nod.

“Dad?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“What’s the matter?”

He shrugs. “Nothing, sweetheart. Just a little sad knowing you’ll be leaving again.”

“Well, you won’t have to be sad for long,” Jasmine interjects, her voice wavering slightly. She clears her throat.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I’m okay with you going to the hospital in Seattle for basic stuff like flushing the catheter or drawing blood, but considering Olivia’s type of cancer and the fact that you’re Jack’s daughter, I really want to be the one to treat her.

“I know what will work without having to experiment with different types of chemo, because I know his family history. If Olivia’s too weak to travel back and forth, I’ll send her file to Seattle and fly in.

“I’ll be there every step of the way. It’s the least I can do since I’m already so familiar with her case. I truly believe I’m her best shot.”

“Thank you so much,” I exclaim, hugging her tightly.

“I’m so relieved we can go home for a bit.”

She nods. “You can go home for two weeks. You’ll need to go to Virginia Mason hospital. I’ll send her file to Dr. Wills, he’s the specialist there. I’ve worked with him before.

“He’ll provide what you need. They’ll draw blood and then you’ll know if she can start chemo. After that, you’ll come back here and we’ll start her treatment for a week.”

“How do we clean her catheter?”

“Sarah will show you. We’ll also give you a diet for her and let you know what she needs to avoid while she’s undergoing treatment.

“I’ll also suggest cleaning products to keep the house and her room germ-free,” she says, all business.

“That sounds doable, that’s great. When can we leave?”

“Tonight,” she replies, smiling.

“Perfect! We’ll be home tomorrow night if we leave in the morning,” James says, already tapping away on his phone to share the news with John.

Dr. Jasmine exits just as Mom, Jim, and Aunt Liz walk in.

“So?”

“We can go home tonight and get everything set up in Seattle. We don’t have to stay here the whole time, but we’ll need to come back in two weeks. So I guess we need to get a family planner,” I announce.

Everyone laughs.