Free Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) by Maureen Mayer

wrong.
    So. Fucking. Wrong.
    Three words can also bring your world to a stuttering halt, crashing it down around you and burning it until there’s nothing left but painful memories of what could have been.
    I have cancer.
    “ No .” I slumped down to the floor, ignoring the broken pieces of the plate still shattered around me. I didn’t care if they sliced through every inch of my body and caused me to bleed out right then and there. Nothing could possibly hurt worse than hearing her utter those three words. Three words I prayed I’d never have to hear again in this lifetime.
    “And you thought I cheated on you? How could you possibly think I would do something like that? You’re my husband! I love you! Only you!”
    “I…I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess my mind raced to the one thing that could tear us apart, but clearly I was wrong.” I slowly turned to face her. “Cancer?”
    “Well, the doctor doesn’t know for sure yet, but there’s a good chance that I do.”
    “Wait.” I paused, trying collect my thoughts before the roller coaster of emotions I was riding threatened to jump the tracks. “You have my head fucking spinning right now, and I just want to make sure I heard you correctly. You’re saying you don’t know for sure ? What…what would even make you think you have cancer in the first place? This is crazy, Liberty. You can’t just say you have cancer one minute and then the next you don’t. So which is it?”
    Liberty sank down next to me and slipped her fingers through my hand lying limp beside me. “Do you remember that day in the shower, when I noticed a little dimple on the side of my breast?”
    Looking back, I thought nothing of it. I was too caught up with having my gorgeous wife’s naked body in my arms and loving the way she came apart around me as she cried out my name. But now… God, I felt like such an asshole for ignoring the concern that was so blatantly evident in her voice that day. I nodded unhurriedly, my voice low and deep, “Yeah, sweetheart. I remember.”
    “Well, I made an appointment to see the doctor the next day, and he didn’t seem too worried about it then, just said he would keep an eye on it. So I thought, maybe I was just overreacting like I always do. You know how I get. Once I let something stew in my mind, I can’t let it go.” Her grip on my hand tightened, and I found her big brown eyes looking up at me nervously. “But when I went back today, after my pre-natal checkup, they noticed that my skin on the side of my breast had become more puckered, so they decided to do an ultrasound.”
    “Did they find anything?” I swallowed hard, waiting anxiously for her to answer. Of course they found something, you idiot. There was no other reason for her to be telling me all of this now, and the tears pooling along the edges of her lashes didn’t exactly scream that everything was fine.
    “All they would tell me was that the cells appeared to be darker and denser than normal. The radiologist didn’t really go into much detail after that. Regardless, they went ahead and did a biopsy just to be sure, but I won’t have the results back until sometime next week.” She let out a heavy sigh. “So for now, we just play the waiting game.”
    She shrugged her shoulder against my side, and it was then I noticed her sudden discomfort. The strap of her tank top slid down, revealing her smooth tan skin, and the side of her breast closest to her armpit was covered with strips of medical tape; tape that was transparent enough to see blood trapped beneath, evidence of what she had gone through. All on her own. One sidelong glance, and the harsh reality of what she’d been put through had finally settled in.
    This wasn’t just some sick joke.
    My wife could have cancer.
    “Fuck.” I threw my head back against the cabinets with an audible thud, and the pained, guttural sound that tore through my chest was enough to bring Liberty crawling into