Chapter 4
A week later Gabe pulled into St Lukes car park. Switching off the engine he sat with his arms draped over the steering wheel and sighed.
Mary had been true to her word and disappeared for two days. Yeah, two miserable days and not a word. Needless to say, he caved. Having decided that man cannot live on cheese toasties and beer alone, he called the hospital, and then phoned Mary. Back she came, giving him a big hug and cooking up a storm.
With a resigned shrug he got out and locked his Range Rover. Pulling his baseball cap further down over his shaded eyes, he adjusted his pony tail and strode towards the entrance. He hoped that he looked just like any other guy in jeans, t shirt and tatty leather jacket, he really didn't want to draw attention to himself. The only person who knew what he was doing was Mary and he wanted to keep it that way.
He found his way to the oncology wing without incident, and was quickly ushered into Dr Powells office by his receptionist.
"Mr Lewellyn, I'm so glad you made it." The doctor said shaking his hand.
They exchanged pleasantries and sat facing each other.
"As I explained in the letter, you came up as a possible match to one of our patients and if you are happy to proceed, I would like your permission to run some more tests."
Gabe sat forward in his chair. "Now wait a minute, I really don't understand what this involves and wasn't overly happy to come here in the first place."
The doctor looked at him curiously and Gabe wasn't sure if he recognised him or not, he then nodded his head and started speaking again. He explained what happens to someone with leukaemia and all the possible treatments that were used. Gabe's eyes started to glaze over at all the medical terms, when Dr Powell noticed this he changed tack.
"Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but the bottom line is if you did this you could be saving a young woman's life."
Gabe's eyes became alert again as he took in the doctors words. "Young woman? I assumed it was a child."
"On the contrary, she is 23 and quite a character, we have all come to love Ab......." He stopped himself and cleared his throat. "Well I would love to see her back on her feet again and able to enjoy life."
"Can I meet her?"
"Ah, no I'm afraid that won't be possible as there is a strict rule about donor patient confidentiality."
Gabe could see the man was uncomfortable at nearly letting the woman's name slip out, so decided to let it drop for now.
"So these tests, what's involved?"
"We just need to take more blood at the moment, the results should be back in about a week."
"And if I am a match, how long until you will need me for the procedure?" Gabe only had a few weeks off before they started promoting the album and sorting out the details of the tour. There was no way he was telling his manager that he needed time off for a hospital stay. If the PR guys got a hold of this it would be a nightmare.
"Well, the patient would need to undergo radiation therapy to kill off all the cancerous cells before we can give her the new bone marrow. We would probably be talking around six weeks, if there are no complications."
Gabe started to get up shaking his head. "I'm sorry doc, but I have a lot of obligations to fulfil and I won't be available in six weeks time."
The doctor stood to face Gabe with a worried frown. "Look, can we just do the blood tests and take it from there? If you are a match we may be able to turn things around faster. I would hate for her to miss out on the chance of a full recovery."
