“Chris!”
Simultaneously, Beverly ran to her son’s bed as the doctor jumped to the aid of the surgeon. “You’re bleeding!”, Dr Smith remarked, pulling out a wad of tissues from his top pocket.
“What the hell happened?!” he continued.
The surgeon pointed over to Sarah, still a little dazed as to what had happened. She was kneeling by Chris’ bed. Beverly took up a position on his right side and placed a hand to his cheek, gently caressing his battered skin. Tears were plunging the space between her face and Chris’, splashing onto his hair. She was sure her brain would be in overdrive, full of questions. Instead she felt numb. She didn’t want to lose him now.
Sarah took one look at the surgeon and the doctor behind her, and looked back onto the scene of mother and son, and fainted to the floor.
************
There was a woman sitting outside Sarah’s room, and she was sobbing loudly. Sarah hadn’t yet found the strength in her eyes, so instead she let her ears do the listening. Sarah was never told who the woman who had visited Chris in his room before she had fainted was but she had a pretty good idea it was his mother. Perhaps this was the woman outside her room now.
Her trail of thoughts was interrupted by the door being opened. She squinted to see who had entered but immediately found herself wanting to shield her eyes from the brightness of the light. She heard the sound of the plastic chair beside scraped against the floor and she guessed it was the doctor. The scene in Chris’ room from her earlier came back to flood her memory. Oh God, what had she done?
“How are you feeling at the moment Sarah?”
It was Doctor Smith. A million and one answers swarmed to the surface but seeing their content, she decided against them. “How long ago was that?” She finished her sentence with a groan.
“Ah, still in pain. Well I’m not surprised. That was quite a show you gave us back there, that must have been about four hours ago now.”
Sarah waited for him to start shouting, but she was taken by surprise as he sighed, and let the incident with the surgeon pass over. Sarah opened her eyes to make sure he was being serious and was met by another pair of eyes. It was the woman who had been beside Chris’ bed with her. She was blinking the tears out her eyes rapidly and her cheeks looked puffy and swollen. Sarah felt the deepest sympathy for this woman arise from within her. Christ, never mind Sarah feeling bad, she hardly knew the man. This woman had been there all his life.
Doctor Smith arose from his seat. “I think I’ll leave you alone for a moment.”
Striding briskly to the door he gave a small encouraging smile and left quietly. Beverly took his place and settled her gaze on the now shut-eyed Sarah. She wasn’t asleep. She just had so much to ask her.
Beverly placed a hand on top of Sarah’s. “I’m truly…”
Sarah knew she would have completed the sentence with “sorry”, but she accepted the situation was hard for the woman and it would be difficult to construct words, especially in front of the other participant in this whole case. Sarah fought against all the pain currently residing mainly in her stomach and leaned over to Beverly, wrapping her arms around her. Beverly was slightly taken aback by the gesture, but let herself fall into Sarah’s grasp. They remained like that for a moment or two before Beverly leaned away to talk.
“The doctor told me what happened…” she trailed off. Sarah could tell she was carefully trying to dodge actually mentioning the baby. Sarah wasn’t really sure she was in the mood for having a discussion about it.
“I…I know what it’s like. It’s happened to me once…in the past.”
Sarah instantly cast away any small judgements against the woman. The desire to abandon the conversation disappeared and instead she found herself wanting to listen to what she had to say. She had lived through a lot, never mind recent events. Sarah could see that despite the subject was touchy, she was still going to tell her about it.
“I was so young when I had Chris, just turned 17. It was horrible. When his father left I was distraught. Bringing up Chris and dropping out of school brought really tough times. After a few more awful mistakes, that was when I found out…”
Sarah remained silent. Sarah knew the ordeals of the accident where going to have a serious consequence on her life but listening to the woman tell the story of the traumatic years she had endured, she knew that if Chris died, the outcome would have a far more dramatic effect on her.
“When I lost my second child, I wanted to give up hope. I was living on my own, in a run down apartment, with a small toddler. Chris was like a miracle child. Losing him would be…oh god…”
Sarah never got the chance to hear her finish the sentence. The door to her room was flung open and a young doctor entered, his eyes revealing the frantic state he was in.
“Sarah Klein?”
Sarah nodded, overwhelmed by his sudden visit.
“Mrs Klein, I need to speak to and Mrs Kirkpatrick immediately. It’s urgent.”
Beverly sprang to her feet, pushing the plastic chair to the side. “Is it Chris?” she whispered.
“Please, take a seat. I’m afraid there’s been a change in the situation.” The new doctor took a sharp picture intake of breath. “Chris’ condition has, well, deteriorated slightly. His kidneys have taken a substantial amount of damage we hadn’t counted on. The damage is completely unexpected. I’m afraid we’ve only just discovered he needs a substantial amount of help quickly before the situation is beyond our hands.”
Sarah remained stoic as she sat motionless on the bed. She took a quick glance at Beverly who had turned white. A mere few hours ago this man’s life would have meant nothing to her. She wouldn’t have known or cared what happened to him, but now…. Now she felt whatever his condition changed to would be her fault. There was no in-between, it was only a matter or life or death. Nothing could have prepared for what the doctor was about to tell her next.
Beverly interrupted. She wasn’t going to let this go with out a fight. “But there’s we can do…”
“Actually, there is another option. But the risk’s involved wouldn’t only effect Chris’ welfare. It would be taking a huge gamble and the outcome could be uncertain.”
Beverly probed further. “What would it take.” It was more of a statement rather than a question. She was willing to do whatever it took. Something any mother would do in a situation like this.
“Well, the process would require a rapid kidney transplant. There’s no way we could postpone the operation, so the donor would have to available now.”
“Is that even possible?” Beverly queried. She had a gut feeling she would be the donor they needed.
“Yes. But things are complicated. What we’re proposing is that we find someone with the same blood type and perform surgery in a matter of hours. It’s only be perfect coincidence Sarah shares the same blood type.”
A hush descended amongst the three. Piece by piece Sarah and Beverly realised the implication of his words. Beverly now knew she wasn’t required. It was Sarah they needed. The doctor broke the silence.
“Mrs Kirkpatrick, do you think Mrs Klein and I could have a moment alone.”
Beverly nodded and slipped out quietly. No fuss, she just wanted Sarah to make a decision quickly.
“Ms Klein,” the doctor continued, “I just want you to know that the decision is entirely yours. I know this seems like a huge weight on your shoulders but don’t feel as though it is your responsibility. I can understand your condition is fragile and recovery is a long way away. This may not be what you need right now, but I urge you, whatever conclusion you come to, you make it quickly. Time is in short supply.”
“Can I…have a moment on my own please.”
“Of course.” The doctor replied, giving her a reassuring smile as he made his way to the door.
Sarah drew a shaky breath, for what she had to decide was without doubt the hardest thing she would ever have to do. Holding her head high she called to the pair waiting outside. They entered cautiously, Beverly’s face a palette of emotions. The doctor regained his position on the plastic chair and waited for Sarah to speak.
“I-I don’t know how I’m supposed to decide this. I mean, we have limited time so please understand.”
Sarah paused and prepared herself for what she was about to say. They were expecting so much of her…
She blurted it out in one breath. The silence that followed may as well have been thunder.
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