Page 102 of Plot Twist

‘Fine, thank you. I just got the results of your colposcopy through, Becca, and wanted to call you straight away. I know how worrying it all is.’

Spit it out, Doctor Peters.

‘And?’ My voice sounded small. Pathetic, almost.

‘It’s good news, Becca. Your biopsy didn’t detect any abnormal cells. It’s known as a “normal” result,’ she said.

Normal. No abnormal cells. No cancer. No death. I squeezed my eyes closed even more tightly as relief flooded my body. I steadied my shaking hand that was holding the phone.

‘Oh, thank you,’ I whispered. It was all I could manage.

I opened my eyes. Adam stared at me, a curious expression etched on his face.

‘You’ll get a letter to confirm it, but I wanted to let you know as soon as possible. You said you’d been through a difficult time lately.’

I exhaled.

‘Are you sure? It’s all fine? What about follow-up, do I need to do anything?’ I asked, applauding myself for the sensible questions.

‘No follow-up, you should just attend your smear as normal when you’re next invited to.’

Normal. Everything was normal. I exhaled and thanked her again, the words tumbling out of my mouth. I could feel her smiling on the other end of the phone as she said goodbye.

I wondered how many other phone calls she had to make that day; how many people got the good news. How many others wouldn’t be so lucky.

But I was fine. All the worry was over. As I hung up the phone, I let out a small squeal and threw myself at Adam, enveloping him in a bear hug. He gasped in surprise and patted my back awkwardly.

‘Good news, I take it?’ He lifted an eyebrow.

‘Great news,’ I replied, moving back to my position on the couch, and grinned at him. ‘My colposcopy results were clear. Fine. Normal. She said I’m normal.’

‘I’m not sure I would go that far.’ Adam grinned, and I punched him lightly on the arm. ‘But I’m glad to hear it, Becca. I’m really happy to hear it.’

I sat back against the couch, closed my eyes and exhaled.

I thought of Rae. I always thought of Rae. I couldn’t help but feel like this was her present to me on her birthday. And it was the best present she could have given me.

I had to tell Dad, of course. He kept calling to check in on me. I’d assured him I’d let him know as soon as I did, but he still asked me every day.

‘Anyway, Adam,’ I said, still smiling. ‘What was so important it couldn’t wait a few hours ’til the memorial?’

Adam shifted in his seat and looked down at the floor before pulling his eyes up to meet my gaze.

‘I’m so glad that we’ve been able to stay in touch. It’s really helped having someone to talk to,’ Adam started. ‘After Rae died, I felt so guilty.’

‘Youfelt guilty? Why would you feel guilty, when it was my fault?’

He turned to look at me, frowning. ‘Your fault? What do you mean?’

I let out a long sigh. ‘Rae wasn’t meant to come through that weekend. I was the one that persuaded her to come through earlier. I hadn’t seen her in ages, and I really wanted to spend some time with her.’

My voice wobbled as my eyes filled with tears. It was a relief to confess it, finally, out loud to someone, the guilt that haunted me through the day and into the depths of night.

‘Becca,’ he said quietly, rubbing my shoulder. ‘It wasn’t your fault. My mum asked her to come through that weekend too. Rae drove up early so they could go and see my cousin’s new house.’

I looked at Adam, to check he was definitely telling the truth and wasn’t throwing me some sort of pity story, but his eyes shone back earnestly. I gulped.

‘It wasn’t my fault,’ I repeated.