Wish Upon a Star (23 page)

She'd clearly needed a pick-me-up and Miranda had arrived,
as if on cue. I practically shoved them onto the patio and went to fix
snacks and drinks. On my way back, I stopped short of the door.
Miranda had an arm around Annie, who was bent over with her head
in her hands.

I left them alone while Miranda comforted Annie as
doubtless only a woman could.

A bit later, I was folding laundry when my phone rang. The
caller identified herself as Doctor Furman. My nerves started tingling
as I ran to the patio. After a deep breath, I told Annie who was on the
line.

With wide eyes, she took the phone and stepped over to the
railing. I glanced at Miranda, who mouthed, "Well?" When I
responded with a shrug, she took my hand in hers and gave it a
squeeze.

Hand in hand, we listened to Annie's half of the
conversation. There was an agonizing silence, followed by a "Yes."
More silence. "I understand. Thank you, Doctor." After a lengthy
pause that made me want to pull my hair out, Annie said, "So what's
next?" She nodded a few times. The torture of waiting was
unbearable. Finally, she wrapped up the call. "Right. I'll be in touch. I
can't thank you enough. You take care."

With her back still to us, Annie let out a long breath. Taking
her time, she turned toward us. She raised her head and looked
directly at me, then to Miranda. After another deep breath, she broke
into her heart-melting smile.

Miranda let go of my hand. "Well?"

"The pathology on the lymph nodes came back today."

"And?"

I was glad Miranda was asking the questions, because I
simply couldn't do it.

"They took six out from each side. The cancer had
progressed to the fourth on one side and to the third on the other,
but no further. The final lymph nodes were clear."

I finally found my voice. "So what does that mean?"

Annie put my phone down and took Miranda's hand in her
left and mine in her right.

"It means it's gone. I beat it." She gave my hand a tight
squeeze.

"I'm cancer-free!"

It is with great joy and much
relief that I am able to announce I'm
CANCER-FREE! While my road to recovery isn't quite
complete, my doctors have informed me the
cancer has been wiped out. I'm looking forward to
being up and around in time for my new record's
release just before Labor Day. Until then, stay
strong and rock on!

Love ya,
Cassandra

I looked from the computer screen at Annie. She was
grinning from ear to ear. "I like it. Nice work."

"Hey, I helped."

We turned our heads toward Staci. Her arms were crossed
and she was tapping her foot. Her posture reminded me a little too
much of my beloved North Star.

"I know you did, honey." Annie crossed the room and
hugged Staci. "I also know you gave me this wonderful bandana." She
patted her head and took a seat on the couch. Staci joined her.

At a glance from Annie, I nodded. She took Staci's hand in
hers. "Staci, I have a question for you. What are you doing October
Thirteenth?"

Staci furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, I, um, I guess I thought I
was going to your wedding."

"Yes, about that. I was hoping you could help me with
something a little different that day."

"Oh...well sure." Despite the smile I was certain was forced,
her disappointed tone was clear as the desert sky.

"As you know, Randi's my matron of honor. E.J.s best man is
his cycling friend Dave. His former boss Paul is his groomsman. So,
I'm in the market for a bridesmaid. And I can't think of anybody who
would be a better bridesmaid than you. Staci, will you do me the
honor of being in my wedding?"

Annie's young friend's jaw dropped practically to the floor.
She glanced my way. When I nodded, she started fanning herself
with both hands.

"Oh my God, oh my God. Thank you." She threw her arms
around Annie, which produced an "Ow!" when Staci evidently
squeezed a little too hard.

Staci pulled back, her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God, I
am so sorry."

Annie sat back upright, alternating between a smile and a
grimace. "Is that a yes?"

"Well, yeah, it totally is."

The wedding party now settled, Annie filled Staci in on some
of our wedding plans, including the colors and the location.

"I've absolutely fallen in love with the Art Center, so we're
holding it there. It's going to be a fairly small affair, with a motif to
match the season. The only wildcard, other than my health of course,
it what E.J.'s tux is going to look like." She crinkled her nose up at me.
"Despite the fact I'm paying for the whole thing, he refuses to even
show me a picture."

"I told you, Annie. Trust me on this, please. I promise you'll
be pleased, but it's a surprise."

Annie huffed and worked her way off the couch. She
squeezed her eyes shut and had to take her time, but those were the
only signs of her discomfort.

"With that settled, let me drive you home before I need to
take some pain meds." She scooped her keys off the counter. "I am so
ready to get behind the wheel again."

With the ladies gone, I posted the announcement to
CasandraLawrence.net and turned my attention to Annie's record
promo schedule. Things were going to be a little tricky. Annie didn't
want to make any public appearances until her drains were
removed, which wasn't likely to happen until the end of July. That
only left us a few weeks for in-person events to promote the new
record and concert DVD. Normally that would have been plenty of
time, but I needed to make sure I kept Annie reined in.

The last thing she needed was to get worn out. Her immune
system was still compromised, and we couldn't have her getting sick.
Not with the finish line within sight.

We started the promo tour with phone interviews with a
few select magazines and bloggers. I'd been promoted to Executive
Assistant shortly after we'd returned from California. Despite
Annie's assurances that it meant a pay raise and improved
connections with the media, I was pretty sure it was mostly an inside
joke between Annie and Samantha.

As Cassandra Lawrence's Executive Assistant, I sat in on all
of the interviews, taking notes as needed and getting Annie
information when asked. She was a good sport the majority of the
time, even though I sensed she got bored with fielding the same
bland, recording industry questions.

The interview Annie clearly loved was one conducted by a
cancer support group representative. She was animated throughout,
laughing with the interviewer about things like not having to worry
about whether her bra matched her tops any more. Originally
scheduled to last thirty minutes, the interview went almost eighty.
When the woman on the other end of the video conference
apologized for taking so much of her time, she waved it away.

"Please. The pleasure's been all mine. Countless good people
have helped me on my journey. If this interview helps even a single
survivor, it's been totally worth it. You've got my contact
information, so you'll let me know if you have any follow up
questions, yes?"

Once the computer screen went dark, Annie slumped into
her seat and downed some pain medication.

"You're done for today. Why don't you go get a nap?"

"Sounds good. Is tomorrow still clear?"

"Something just came up. You have an appointment
tomorrow at ten."

Annie massaged her temples. "I was really looking forward
to having a day when I didn't have to be on. Who it is?"

"I got the call while you were on the interview. I thought
given that tomorrow's Friday, you'd want—"

"Who is it?"

"Doctor Furman. It's your appointment to get your drains
taken out."

"Oh...Well, I guess I can fit that into the schedule." She
leaned over and planted a long, hot kiss on my lips. "That'll most
assuredly make my nap even more pleasant. Thanks, love."

Annie glided to the bedroom and closed the door. With a
little spring in my own step, I changed clothes and headed out for a
ride.

Getting Annie's drains removed took all of maybe a half
hour. I'd barely settled into my book when she strolled out of the
doctor's office, grinning ear to ear.

Once we were outside she grabbed me by the arm. "Oh my
Lord, you should have seen how long those drain lines were. You
know how we were afraid we'd pull them out when we were
stripping them?"

"Don't think I'll ever forget." I cringed. One time, I'd lost my
grip on the drain line and pulled out about three inches worth. In a
blind panic, I'd dialed the doctor's office while Annie had curled into
a ball until the pain subsided. In a calm tone, the nurse reassured me
there was virtually no way we would pull the trains all the way
out.

"Well, once the Doctor Furman snipped something and
started pulling, it was like a magic trick. She kept pulling and pulling
and pulling. I'd wager she pulled out a full two feet of line." She
patted me on the shoulder. "No worries."

We celebrated her freedom from the drain lines by treating
our friends to a Saturday night dinner. At Annie's request, I booked
us a private room so we—really Annie—could dine undisturbed.

When dinner was over, waiters brought out glasses of
champagne garnished with strawberries. Once everyone had a glass,
Annie rose.

"I want to thank each of you for all your support these last
few months. While I've got one more hurdle to cross, the finish line's
in sight. So—" Annie looked to her left. "—to Samantha, thank you for
your tireless efforts in keeping Cassandra Lawrence Enterprises on
track, and for joining us on such short notice."

Working her way around the room, Annie thanked every
person with a personal anecdote or witticism. When she got to me,
she made me stand and took my hand in hers.

"While you've all been so wonderful and supportive, I
absolutely could not have done this without all the things this
wonderful, sweet man has done for me. I would never wish breast
cancer on anybody, but I am so, so thankful I've had the most
incredible caregiver by my side, my Lucky Star, my E.J."

Annie lifted her glass. "To all of you, I thank you and look
forward to great days ahead. Cheers."

We mingled for a while after the toast. There was lots of
laughter, mixed with a few tears of joy.

Ryan was telling Paul and me about his latest project, a
seven figure estate for one of Indy's pro athletes, when there was a
squeeze on my shoulder.

"Time for me to retire, Mister McCarty. Will you escort
me?"

We said our goodbyes and headed home. On the way, Annie
leaned her seat back and closed her eyes. Her hands were balled into
fists and trembling ever so slightly.

"I'll get you a pain pill as soon as we get home."

"Thanks" She sucked in a breath. "You know what really
sucks?"

Any number of things came to mind. "No, what?"

"Even when I'm fully recovered, whatever that means, I'll
have to deal with pain and discomfort in my upper body. In the long
term, it'll subside some, but will never go away completely."

With the old back injury, I could identify—a little. "Yeah, that
does suck. I just hope that if you have to put up with the pain for the
rest of your life, you have to put up with it for a long time, like fifty or
sixty years."

"I do too, love. I do too."

The following Monday morning, my phone rang. Annie's
Navigator, Julia, was on the line.

"I thought we should touch base so I can get the ball rolling
on Annie's radiation treatments."

In the euphoria of having Annie's drains removed, I'd
completely forgotten about radiation.
Annie's not going to like
this
.

"About that, Julia. Annie's asleep right now. Does she really
need to go through radiation?"

"In the end, the choice is hers. Doctor Furman highly
recommends it, though." Julia's tone was friendly, but I detected
something there, first-hand experience maybe, that suggested it
really wasn't optional.

"Okay, it's just that Annie was pretty set on being done with
treatment. And she's got a record to promote and then we're getting
married, and well..."

"She doesn't want to be bothered with radiation." Julia
chuckled. "I get that a lot. Here's the deal, E.J. She doesn't need to
make a decision today, but she owes it to herself to have a complete
course of treatment to beat the cancer. Choosing to go without
radiation would be like taking antibiotics to fight an infection but
only finishing two thirds of the bottle because you're feeling better.
The purpose of radiation is to help lower the chance of the cancer
coming back. It's like taking all of the antibiotics."

"So it's kind of like hedging our bets. There's no guarantee
her cancer won't come back, but doing the radiation reduces the
risk."

"Exactly." Julia took the next hour to educate me about the
radiation process in general. She answered every question I had and
waited without complaint while I jotted down notes. Before I let her
go, I had a final question for Julia.

"What I do if she says no?"

Julia didn't hesitate. "Get her to say yes. If you love her, you
won't take no for an answer. I know from experience."

I waited for Annie to get up and have a cup of coffee before I
told her Julia had called. Her response when I told her the reason for
the call was simple and direct.

"No."

The antibiotic analogy got me a slightly more expansive
response.

"Not gonna happen."

Annie could be stubborn as the proverbial mule, but she
wasn't stupid. Under normal circumstances, I could depend on the
analytical part of her brain to arrive at the logical conclusion. But
this wasn't a negotiation over film rights for the concert DVD.

This was personal.