A Pearl In The Oyster ☑️

14. Le changement - The Change

Once my little meeting with Sophie ended, she went straight to meet Florian, while I headed to the hospital. Today was the day I had to meet mama's doctor, and I wondered what he had to say.

It was both an exciting and nervous situation. Throughout my ride, my teeth kept tearing at the soft skin of my lips in anticipation, and I was sure my palms would have small crescent shaped marks from my fingernails.

Though Florian had reassured me, I wasn't sure about anything until the results were revealed. Upon arriving here, mama had to immediately go through a flurry of tests and now that the results were out, it scared me to the core.

Her health was already deteriorating back in France, would it get better here? Or, did it change for the worse?

Hurriedly climbing the steps of the hospital, I found my way towards where mama resided. Her assigned doctor's office was on the same floor, so I just pressed number twelve on the elevator. A minute later, the doors opened, and I stepped into the pandemonium of cries, shouts and moans.

Walking through the hallway, I reached a door at the end of it. An assistant led me inside a well furnished, modern office. The room was quite commodious, and there was a huge mahogany desk in the middle of it. Behind it, sat Dr. Pharrell Matthews, my mama's doctor.

"Good afternoon, doctor." I greeted him, and his brown eyes lit up in recognition.

"Ah, Miss Fontaine, right? Good afternoon, dear. Come, have a seat." He addressed me quite cheerfully, and the enthusiasm in his voice already diminished my worries.

After I was seated down, he pulled out a file full of mama's test reports, and the woozy feeling returned to me. Dr. Matthews must have seen the color drain from my face, as he reassured me immediately.

"Don't worry, dear. It's not as bad as you're thinking."

"But, back in France, her results weren't so good. I don't know if there will be a solution to this, and it worries me a lot." I said, finally expressing my concern.

The doctor replied, "I know about it, I'd seen those results too. Honestly speaking, our results aren't that different from what you had given to us, but, there is definitely room for improvement."

I perked up at his words. Ever since I'd learned that mama's condition had worsened, I couldn't even sleep or eat properly. My days passed by in mindless worry, and it was eating me alive. Today, I had heard something which would be the first ray of hope for me after a long time.

"There is? What is it, doctor?" I asked him, getting more and more impatient by the second.

"Well, since your mother has already gone through one surgery, partial gastrectomy is out of question. Since the tumor has returned, and is increasing, it's safe to diagnose her with a Stage IV cancer. It's a serious condition, but we will try our best to cut the cancerous cells down with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Both of them will be used on her, so that we can kill the growing cells as soon as possible."