Free A Taste of Love by Susan Willis Page A

encouragement. She leaned towards him, rolled her tongue around her dry mouth and then softly parted her lips. With a firmer hold on her arm he pulled her towards him, their faces centimetres away from each other and their eyes locked together. She could hardly catch her breath and could hear his rapid breathing. Slowly he lowered his lips onto hers and they began to kiss.

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    The next morning, as Helen sat with Karen in the breast assessment centre in front of the consultant to hear the results, she could see by Karen’s demeanour that she was more positive than the previous visit and she squeezed her hand reassuringly. Greg had come with them but had chosen to stand guard in the waiting area to stop Karen from running out again.
    ‘The biopsy results show that these unusual cells are suspicious but because they are not run-of-the-mill the small biopsy pieces I took are not big enough to name them exactly. The only way we’re going to identify them is to get this lump out and let the micro labs look at it in detail. They are still, however, borderline,’ the consultant said, looking directly at Karen.
    Karen cleared her throat and croaked. ‘So you still can’t say whether they are cancerous?’
    Helen had an ache in her throat when she looked at Karen knowing how much it had taken for her to even utter the words.
    ‘That’s right,’ he nodded gravely. ‘They are suspicious and I would be very surprised if they turned out to be benign but we’ll get the lump removed and decide then whether you’ll need more treatment. But, Karen, I do want to reassure you that we have excellent results with this type of procedure and I’m confident the outcome will be very successful.’
    She could see Karen raise her small shoulders and lift her chin in an effort to keep control and Helen felt completely overwhelmed with pity for her sister.
    They were ushered, still clinging onto each other’s hands, into an adjoining room with the breast care nurse. Jenny was a lovely nurse and immediately made them both feel easier by explaining all about the operation. The operation would be done by the surgeon, with the help of a guide-wire to remove the lump and an area of breast tissue surrounding it. She had a clay model of a breast and explained how nowadays they tried to preserve as much healthy tissue as possible in comparison to years ago when surgeons used to remove the whole breast as a precaution. She also explained that if the cells were still in the capsule then only an operation would be necessary but if the cells had broken through it would be classed as invasive and radiotherapy might be needed. At the same time the surgeon would take a lymph gland out to make sure the cells hadn’t spread.
    When they reached Greg in the waiting room Karen ran to him and he scooped her up into his arms hugging her tightly. Helen stood next to Greg and quietly told him everything they knew.
    He ran a hand through his thin hair and peered over his rimless glasses at Helen. ‘But that’s good,’ he said, confidently. ‘It’s tiny, they’ve caught it early and the outcome will be successful. It’s just what I like to hear – a procedure with excellent results.’
    ‘But the cells are s-suspicious,’ Karen stuttered into his chest.
    Gently he eased her away from him and smoothed the hair from her damp forehead. ‘So much better that they’ve found it now than it go undetected for another five years and grow into something much more sinister. Look, they’ll remove it next week and you’ll be fine. And when you’ve had time to think about it you’ll realise just how lucky you’ve been…’
    Helen couldn’t help but suppress a smile while she followed Karen and Greg, arm in arm, down the corridor and outside into the car park. Greg’s philosophy on life was certainly different, she mused, but it was what Karen knew and loved about him and Helen knew it would sustain her through the weeks to come.
    *
    After a