Chapter 5 - Pathology Brings Relief And Another Question
Two days later, pathology delivered partial results.
Dr. Navarro sat with Mariana and Chloe.
“The findings are reassuring.”
Chloe gripped her mother’s hand.
The mass appeared consistent with a benign ovarian teratoma.
Additional testing would confirm the diagnosis, but there was no current
evidence of ovarian cancer.
Chloe started crying.
Mariana did too.
Relief arrived so strongly it hurt.
Dr. Navarro cautioned them.
Benign did not mean insignificant.
The torsion had been real.
The surgery had been necessary.
Chloe would need follow-up care.
Then Mariana asked about the Mercer family mutation.
Dr. Navarro said hereditary cancer counseling should be handled
carefully and age-appropriately.
Testing a minor depended on the specific gene, clinical implications,
family history, and specialist guidance.
No one would rush Chloe into genetic testing merely because Mariana was
frightened.
Mariana appreciated that.
Richard had turned fear into secrecy.
She did not want to make the opposite mistake and turn fear into
unnecessary intervention.
A genetics counselor joined the care team.
That afternoon Richard requested to see Chloe.
She refused.
He sent a note instead.
I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT YOU.
Chloe tore it in half.
Mariana did not stop her.
Then Chloe remembered something.
“When I was twelve, Dad took me somewhere for blood work.”
Mariana stared.
“What blood work?”
“He said it was for vitamins.”
“Where?”
“I don’t remember.”
Richard had handled the appointment alone.
Mariana searched their insurance portal.
No record.
Then she remembered the urgent-care note.
Cash pay.
She checked old bank statements.
Three years earlier Richard had paid $1,850 to a company called
Northstar Genomics.
Mariana searched her email.
Nothing.
She called Phoebe Lane, a family attorney who had helped with Richard’s
father’s estate.
Phoebe went silent at the company name.
“Mariana, Northstar did private hereditary testing for the Mercer
family.”
Mariana’s stomach dropped.
Richard had not merely known Chloe might inherit a mutation.
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He may already have tested her.
And if he had, he had hidden the result for three years.
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