Beach Lane by Sherryl Woods Page A

she was taking another sick day.
    An hour later, there was a brisk knock on her door. Then a key turned in the lock before she could even think of stirring from bed, and her mother came in.
    Susie immediately sat up. “Mom, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at school.”
    “Your father called me. What’s going on?”
    “Cramps. You know. It’s no big deal. Nothing to bring you racing over here.”
    “Have you seen your doctor recently?” Jo inquired, worry creasing her brow.
    “There’s no need. I had my annual checkup a few months ago. Everything’s fine.”
    “How often have you had pain this severe?”
    “It’s a little worse this time, but I’ve always been this way. Remember how often I had to stay home from school?”
    “I thought you’d gotten over that long ago.”
    “I guess when I started on birth control pills, it did get a little better,” she admitted.
    “Are you still on them?” Jo asked matter-of-factly.
    Susie blushed. “I haven’t had any reason to be. I took a break.”
    “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have, if they were helping. Let’s call your doctor and get you checked out.”
    Susie felt too lousy to argue. “Fine. I’ll call and make an appointment.”
    “It’ll take weeks to get in, unless you tell him it’s an emergency. Where’s your address book? Do you have the number in there? I’ll call.”
    “Mom, it’s not an emergency. By tomorrow I’ll be perfectly fine.”
    “I’ll feel better if a medical professional tells me that.”
    Susie regarded her mother curiously. “Why are you so worked up about this?”
    Jo sat down on the edge of the bed, her expression drawn. “I’ve never really felt any need to get into this with you, but it’s obviously time I did.”
    Susie regarded her with concern. She sounded so somber. “Get into what?”
    “After I had Luke, I had to have a hysterectomy. For years I’d had symptoms very much like yours. After Matthew the doctor suggested I have one, but I refused. Your father and I wanted more children, and the symptoms weren’t that bad. I looked at the research on hyperplasia—that’s what I had, some abnormal cells in my uterus—and was convinced I could afford to wait. But when Luke was born, it was worse. They couldn’t stop the bleeding. They found the abnormal cells had spread. There was no longer any choice.”
    Susie stared at her mother in shock. “You had cancer?”
    “I suppose you’d call it precancer. The abnormal cells hadn’t spread beyond the uterus, and with that gone, along with my ovaries, the prognosis was good. I didn’t even need chemotherapy or radiation. You were much too young to be aware that any of this was going on. Since then, I’ve never really seen the need to talk about it, but I don’t like what’s going on with you right now. I think you need to get checked out. Will you do this for me?”
    Susie nodded at once. “Of course, but you’re worrying for no reason. I promise.”
    Her mother squeezed her hand. “I’m counting on that.”
    She made the call to the doctor’s office, waited while Susie dressed, then insisted on driving her to his office.
    Alone in the examining room, Susie sat on the cold, hard table and told herself that she was here only to put her mom’s fears to rest. There was no reason to panic. She’d been dealing with the same symptoms for years, and they hadn’t meant anything. They were more of a nuisance than anything else.
    When Dr. Kinnear came in, he gave her a warm smile. “Under the circumstances, I’m glad you came in.”
    Susie managed a wan smile in return. “I had no idea until today that there was any family history to be concerned about.”
    “I’m glad your mother finally filled you in. Better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “Now let’s do a quick examination and see where we are.”
    Gynecological exams had never been at the top of Susie’s list of favorite things, but this one proved more uncomfortable than most.