“Normally?”
The doctor’s expression shifted grave. “I was reviewing Cleo’s chart, and I see she has a history of poor kidney functioning. Her right one’s never been as strong as the left?”
“She has a birth defect, yes,” Cleo’s mom said. “She’s had issues in the past, but keeps up on her doctor’s appointments. We’ve monitored the situation her whole life, and she’s never had an issue.”
“That’s because she’s always had the left to overcompensate, but the right is having to work too hard now.”
My stepmom paled. “What does that mean?”
“It means your daughter will need a transplant, Mrs. Fairchild. And sooner rather than later. I’ve added her to the donor list, and though we hope to hear something, your daughter’s need is immediate and it is a long list.”
Sickness at this point and now, my dad actually had to hold my stepmom up. She wavered in his arms.
“What can we do?” My father had completely broken the wall. The dam of his strength had been nuked, and holding onto my stepmother was his only strength. He swayed too.
Exce
pt he wasn’t the only one.
I rocked behind them, my hands bunching in my pockets. I couldn’t see straight again, all this shit not real.
“It’s at this point we ask the family,” the doctor stated. “Odds of a match are higher from a biological recipient.”
“Of course.” Maggie pressed her hand to Rick’s chest. “I’ll be tested right away. Anything she needs.”
“Can only family be tested?”
I think the parents had been the only ones surprised when I opened my mouth.
Because I sure wasn’t.
The doctor mentioned all this shit, and all I was thinking was what did I have to do. How could they do this shit now, this test, and get this girl anything she needed. I started to step forward, but my dad grabbed me.
“Son, you don’t have to—”
“I know I don’t.” I faced the doctor. “If you’re not family, can you be tested?”
“Of course,” Dr. Fieldhouse said, her smile light. “But it is a big decision. You need to be certain.”
“And it’s major surgery, son.” Rick put his hands on my arms. “This isn’t just… It’s not something that can just be undone. Something could go wrong even. You could need—”
“I don’t care.” And I didn’t. I just needed this shit to happen now. “Whatever she needs.”
Tears in my stepmother’s eyes, not sure if they were a combination for myself, Cleo, or something else entirely. I just knew she took my hand, and suddenly, I was with her.
Suddenly, I was with both of them.
She squeezed my hand as Rick nodded as well. “I’d like to be tested as well,” he said, acknowledging me in that same sentence. “My son and I aren’t biologically related to Cleo, but that’s what we want.”
I let him know that, nodding too, and then, the doctor was away, moving on to next steps. In her absence, I found arms around me.
My stepmother.
“Thank you so much,” she said, squeezing me. Pulling away, she touched my face. “Just God bless you.”
I had no words, only that I didn’t have to think about it. There hadn’t really been another option.
At least, not in my mind.