Finding Hope (Love's Compass Book 2) Read Free

made its way into her hip. By the end of the day, she looked forward to relaxing in a hot bath with some Epsom salts. If she tossed in an ibuprofen or two, it usually took the edge off.
    This new level of pain convinced her to call the doctor. She figured it was an ovarian cyst that would not go away on its own and she was tired of dealing with the discomfort.
    Now she was shivering in the cool air of the room and wondering if she shouldn’t have given it more time to resolve on its own. Goodness knows, she had better things to do than freeze to death wrapped up in a paper gown like a slab of meat at the butchers.
    Lexi was about to step down from the exam table and get dressed again when there was a light knock on the door. She jumped and made sure the joke of a covering was still tucked in around her when a woman entered the room.
    “Alexis Chandler? I’m Tina and I’ll be performing your sonogram. Once I’ve taken images and measurements, I’ll have the doctor come in and talk with you.”
    Lexi nodded. She was glad Doctor Yates would be in to give her his opinion the same day. She had experience reading ultrasound images herself and hoped that she might pick out the ovarian cyst.
    Doing her best to remain covered, Lexi scooted down on the bed, lying flat on her back.
    Tina asked several questions about her pain before beginning the procedure.
    Lexi twisted her head to see the monitor and immediately spotted a dark-colored ring. The tech took measurements and moved the wand around as she manipulated organs to get a better view. Lexi dug her fingernails into the palms of her hand and tried not to whimper at the pain that resulted.
    After putting the wand back in its place, Tina stood from her stool. “I’ll go get the doctor. He’ll want to take a look himself. I’ll be right back.”
    Lexi watched her go and tipped her head back with a roll of her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to lie on the table any longer than she had to. She rubbed her arms to ward off the goosebumps. Her stomach was a ball of nerves. She wanted to be almost anywhere else right now.
    Thankfully, they returned within moments. Tina stood to the side while Doctor Yates sat down on the stool. “I’ll take a quick peek here and then I’ll elaborate on the findings.”
    She nodded at him to continue and tried to ignore the dread that was stretching tendrils out to every fiber of her being.
    Without watching the monitor, she waited until he had finished and told her she could sit up.
    “I know you’re a nurse, so I’ll come right out and give you the results.” He pulled up one of the sonogram photos Tina had taken and tapped the dark ring. “You have a fluid-filled pocket on the anterior side of your right ovary. I wish I could tell you this is a cyst. But here,” he circled the white center of the ring, “appears to be a solid mass.”

Chapter Two
     
     
    A mass.” Lexi heard herself say the words, but it sounded like they were coming back to her through a tunnel. That her pain was caused by anything more than a stubborn ovarian cyst had never occurred to her. Now she tried to wrap her mind around that idea and it wasn’t working.
    “Most likely it’s benign, but this isn’t something you want to assume. It will not go away on its own and it’s causing you discomfort.” Doctor Yates wrote some notes down in her chart. “At the least, the mass needs to be removed.”
    Of course it needed to be removed. If there was even a remote chance that the mass wasn’t benign, Lexi was tempted to reach in and yank it out herself. She felt betrayed by her own body. She wasn’t even thirty years old — whether a mass was malignant or not shouldn’t be on her radar. “What do I do?”
    “I’m going to refer you to an oncologist. It’s better to go that route because if the doctor gets in there and it isn’t benign, you can be sure you’re getting the best care.”
    Oncologist. Ice penetrated her heart. The chill traveled through