Kidney For Sell

Summary: When June's granddaughter is about to receive a kidney transplant, the kidney is stolen. They only have a few short hours to find it and get it to the hospital, or the young girl could die.

Warning: A few curse words and mild violence.

Note: I do not know much about kidney transplants or procedures. Some of the stuff in this story is what I saw on tv, other stuff I made up.

Note: In this story, June has full custody of Samantha. The young girl's parents passed away two years prior to the story.

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Neal entered June's house and smiled when he saw June's nine-year-old granddaughter running towards him.

"Hi Neal." She said.

"Hi Sammy."

"Grandma wants to know if you can watch me while she goes to the store."

"Of course I will." Neal said, with a wink. "When the cat's away, the mice will play."

"One certain little mouse better not play too hard." June said, as she walked over.

"You been feeling bad, Sammy?" Neal asked, his smile gone.

The young girl had to have a kidney transplant when one became available. Some days she was fine, and as active as most nine-year-old girls. But some days were not good. Some days were filled with sickness and trips to the hospital.

"I feel fine." She said. "Grandma's just a worry wart."

"Samantha." June said, with a raised eyebrow.

"I was feeling bad earlier." The young girl admitted. "Grandma June doesn't want me outside in the night air."

"It would be an honor to entertain you while your Grandma goes to the store." Neal bowed, causing the young girl to giggle.

"Thank you Neal." June said. "I should only be gone about an hour, maybe not even that long."

"Take you time." Neal said, picking Samantha up and standing her on top of a chair.

"Piggy back ride?" Samantha asked, smiling.

"A princess deserves to travel in style." Neal replied, turning around so she could grab his neck and jump onto his back.

"Remember." June said. "No horsing around, I want her to rest."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she takes it easy."

"I know you will." June smiled.

/

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Several minutes later, Neal was sitting on his sofa with Samantha curled up beside him.

"And the beautiful Princess lived happy ever after, with her Prince Charming." Neal said, as he closed the children's book he had been reading. "The end."

"I like that story." Samantha said.

"I do too."

"Neal, can we play tea party?"

"Sure Sammy." Neal said, as they stood up. He smiled as Samantha started sitting her dolls in the chairs around the table. A few months ago, he would never have imagined himself having a tea party with a nine-year-old girl and her dolls. But it was a normal occurrence now. And he loved it. He had grown close to the young girl, she reminded him that there was still good in the world.

Neal grabbed a pack of cookies off of the refrigerator and laid them on the table, along with half gallon of milk. Neither Neal nor Samantha liked tea, so they usually used milk for their tea parties.

"I have a soccer game Saturday." Samantha said. "Can you come?"

"If I don't have to work." Neal replied, as they sat down. "You know what a slave driver my boss can be."

Neal poured the milk and Samantha passed out the cookies.

/

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That night, Neal was woken from a deep sleep. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand, which read 3:39 a.m., and tried to figure out what had woken him.

"Neeeaaaal!" June's frantic voice called out, followed by heavy pounding on his door.

Neal jumped out of bed and ran to the door, throwing it open.

"What's wrong?" He asked June.

"It's Samantha, she's really sick. We can get to the hospital faster if we take the car, but I don't think I can drive right now."

"Give me a minute to change." Neal said, his heart racing.

"I'll be in Samantha's room."

Neal shut the door and quickly pulled off his pajamas, and tossed them on the floor. He grabbed his pants and white tee-shirt that he had worn the day before, since they were the closest. He put them and his shoes on, grabbed his wallet and phone, then ran out of the room.

He went into Samantha's room and felt like he was punched in the stomach. The young girl was drenched with sweat and her pretty face was contorted with pain.

"It's okay, Honey." June said, holding her granddaughter's hand. "Grandma's here."

Neal gently lifted her into his arms and carried her downstairs and outside, June leading the way and opening doors. Soon Neal was driving towards the children's hospital, June and Samantha were in the back seat.

"It hurts Grandma June." The young girl said, her voice weak.

"I know, baby." June said. "We're almost to the hospital."

Neal pressed harder on the accelerator, wondering briefly why a cop hadn't tried to stop him yet. He was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. He screeched to a stop right outside of the emergency room.

"You can't park there." A security guard said, as Neal jumped out of the car.

"We've got a young girl who needs to see a doctor right now." Neal said, as he opened the back door and gently lifted Samantha into his arms once more.

"Right through there." The guard said, pointing towards the entrance.

Neal ran into the ER and ran over to the first person in a white coat he saw. "She needs help."

"Doctor Stevens is expecting us." June said.

"Of course." The doctor said. Then he started barking orders and the staff started scrambling to obey them. A nurse pushed a gurney over and Neal gently laid the young girl on it.

"Grandma June." Samantha whimpered. "I'm scared."

"I'm right here, Honey." June said, once again holding her small hand in hers. "It will be okay, they'll make you feel better."

A middle-aged man in a white coat rushed over and started examining Samantha.

"How long has she been like this?" He asked.

"She woke up crying about twenty minutes ago, she was already covered in sweat." June said.

"Samantha." He said, in a calm voice. "Can you hear me?"

Samantha didn't respond. Her body went limp and her eyes rolled back.

"Samantha!" June cried out.

The doctor started barking orders, and they rolled the gurney with Samantha on it away. June and Neal tried to follow, but the middle-aged doctor stopped them.

"June." He said, his voice still calm. "I know you want to go in there, but you can't. Let us do our job, I will update you as soon as I can."

June nodded, as tears rolled down her face. Doctor Stevens turned and ran after the retreating gurney. Neal, who had tears in his own eyes, wrapped June in a tight hug. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and cried.

"She'll be okay." Neal said, praying that he was right. "Sammy's going to be okay."

/

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A ringing phone woke up Peter.

"This had better be important." He groaned as he reached for the phone. Elizabeth mumbled something that Peter was certain wasn't very lady like.

"Agent Burke." He said into the phone. "When?" He asked, his voice sounded confused. "Where is he?" Peter shot up in bed. "He's supposed to be there, go ahead and turn off the tracker. Yes, turn it off." Then he hung up and started dialing a number.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked, around a yawn.

"Neal's out of his two mile radius." He said. "Come on, Neal. Answer the phone." When it went to voice mail, he hung up and tried another number.

"Where is he?"

"At a children's hospital."

"Samantha?"

"Yeah, it has to be." Peter hung up the phone. "Neal's not answering his phone, neither is June."

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"I need to call Sara." June said referring to his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, Samantha's sister.

"I've got a missed call from Peter." She said, looking at her phone.

"Me too." Neal said, also pulling out his phone. Then he knew why. "My anklet."

"Your two mile radius." June said. "I didn't even think about that, you won't get into trouble will you?"

"Of course not." Neal said. "Peter will fix it. He already knows where I am, that's why he called you. With this thing on, he can always tell where I am."

Neal stepped away to return the older man's call, while June called her other granddaughter.

"Neal." Peter's voice filtered through the phone. "Is Samantha okay?"

"No." Neal said, trying to keep his voice even. "This time's bad, real bad."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, right now we're just waiting on the doctor."

"Call me when you know something."

"I will. And Peter, I know I'm out of my radius…."

"I already had your tracker turned off." Peter interrupted him. "Stay with June as long as she needs you, don't worry about work."

"Thanks Peter." Neal couldn't stop the slight hitch in his voice.

"She's going to be okay, Neal." Peter's voice was soft and soothing. "Samantha's a fighter."

"I know." Neal smiled slightly. "She's a tough little kid."

"If there's anything I can do, give me a call."

"I will."

Neal hung up and walked back over to June, who was also hanging up.

"She's taking a cab, should be here in a few minutes." She said.

They sat down on hard plastic chairs and Neal wrapped a comforting arm around her.

"Am I a bad person?" June asked softly, turning her head so she could look into Neal's eyes.

"Why would you ask that? You are one of the most caring and wonderful person that I know."

"I keep prying that a kidney will become available for Samantha." June said, as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "But I know that in order for that to happen, another child has to die. It's like I've been prying for the death of another child."

"It doesn't make you a bad person to pray for your granddaughter." Neal said.

Before June could reply, they saw Doctor Stevens walking towards them. The look on his face told them it was bad news.

"Is my baby okay?' June asked, as she and Neal stood up. Neal kept the arm around her shoulders, offering support.

"I am so sorry June." He said. "Samantha is in critical condition. Without a kidney transplant, there is nothing else we can do."

"How long does she have?" June asked, as she clutched to Neal.

"A couple days maybe, we've got her sedated and she's resting."

"Can we see her?"

"Of course, but only for a few moments."

"I can't go in there alone, Neal." She said.

"You're not alone." Neal assured her.

They were lead into a small room and both gasped at what they say. Samantha had tubes and wires all over her small body, and her skin was ashen.

Neal felt tears running down his face, as he watched the little girl's lifeless form. He could not go through this again, he couldn't lose another person whom he loved. He started to turn and flee from the room, but stopped when he heard June start crying. He knew he couldn't leave, he had to be there for June.

All his life, Neal had been able to run when things got too sticky. But he knew those days were over, he couldn't run anymore. No matter how painful staying was. He had family.

Neal once again wrapped June into a tight hug. "Sammy's going to pull through." He said, his voice choked with emotion.

/

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Please let me know what you think. I will have chapter # 2 up by tonight.