Home Sweet Girl

Chapter | Twelve

Elaine wakes up from a well needed rest. Staying up with a restless Mary really tested her age. Her restful eyes examines the room, seeing no signs of the young girl. She begins to panics a little—meeting eyes with Benjamin lying there staring blankly at her with his oxygen mask on.

"Where is Mary?!" She nearly pulls out her hair. The stressful week she has endured is fueling her nerves.

"Bathroom," his voice distorted by the mask on his face. Elaine sigh in relief. She then faces the door and knock.

"Precious, you okay in there?" she jiggles the door handle, finding it unlocked. She slowly opens the door halfway, discovering Maryanne fast asleep on the floor. With a loving glance, she closes the door the same way she opened it. More gentle this time.

"What is she doing?" Benjamin ask. Assuming that his little girl could be getting into something drastic because of her history of being sneaky.

"Sleeping, thank heavens," she says.

"She's probably still mad with me".

"What happened?" The older woman wonders if they had a disagreement while she had been asleep.

"She doesn't want to go places with me anymore. She thinks I'm dying," he stares at the machine that is monitoring his heart rate. "What do you think, Elaine? Am I dying?".

Elaine struggles to find the right words when she acknowledges The poor sight of her friend, "Benjamin. It's not my place, but I do think it's best to just focus on getting better...and staying alive".

He holds his head up and nod,"You know, I've been having these dreams—sort of visions about my mother... If anything we're to happen to me, I trust that you would do what's best for her".

"Of course I would, but I'd rather not think about that right now," she swallows.

"Elaine--" he starts coughing, just in time for the nurse and the doctor to come in.

"Ready for your meds, Mr Ellis?" the nurse says. "We've increased the dosage just a bit to make the pain more bearable," using a serenge to inject medication into the IV bag.

"-I also put a little sleeping medication in to keep him calm and relaxed," she whisper to Elaine.

The doctor approaches and request to talk with Elaine privately ouside the room. Quietly, she follows behind then her face quickly turns into a frown when she's see the unsettling look on the doctor's face. The doctor holds a clipboard in her hand looking over it then back at the older woman with a tight lipped smile.

"I unfortunately have some more bad news to discuss with you". In the moment Elaine's heart drops, making her suddenly anxious. With everything that's been going on, what's the worst thing that could happen now?. She nods her head in anticipation. Biting her lip, as a tactic to hold herself together.

"I've watched Benjamin over the past couple of days and at first I was very optimistic about his recovery. Lately, he's hasn't been showing any signs of improvement like I hoped. His health is significantly declining. I realized his kidneys are far too damaged for the dialysis treatment to take. They're practically deteriorating. Also, his heart is also growing weaker from all the stress". Elaine close her eyes. This wasn't the news she hoped to hear.

The gears in her brain turns and she remembers the doctor mentioning another alternative, "The transplant. You said that he will most likely need one".

"I did. But, now I think it's high risk!. First, he'll need a perfectly matched donor and I don't know how long that will take because of the waiting list. Second, if we are lucky to find one for him on the spot, there is a ninety percent chance that he won't make it during surgery". The doctor affirms.