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She took a shaky breath, and I noticed her hands were trembling too. “At your graduation, your dad saw a mole on my back. I was wearing that strapless green dress, remember?
He pulled me aside afterward and said it didn’t look right. I thought he was being weird, honestly. A little inappropriate, even.”
“But he insisted I get it checked by a dermatologist. He was so serious about it that it scared me. So, I made an appointment, even though I thought he was overreacting.”
My heart started pounding, but for a completely different reason now.
“It turned out to be melanoma,” she continued, her voice breaking.
“Skin cancer. Stage two. If I’d waited even a few more months, it could have spread.
The doctors said catching it when we did probably saved my life.”
Oh my… It thought. Dad… you…
I couldn’t say a word.
“Your dad came with me to every single appointment,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks freely now. “Every biopsy, every consultation, and every treatment planning session.
He held my hand when I was terrified. He explained everything the other doctors said in ways I could understand.”
Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. “That morning when you thought he went to a conference… he did.
But before leaving town, he stopped by to check on me, to make sure I was strong enough to start treatment. Then he went straight to the conference afterward. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
At that exact moment, I heard Dad’s car pull into the driveway.
When he walked up and saw Melissa standing there with me, his expression softened immediately.
“Hey,” he said gently. “You didn’t have to come all this way.”
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