Enjoy!

Written by Cathy and Cindy

AULD LANG SYNE Chapter 1 -

The glass door slides open into a sterile environment. She is met by the sounds of voices over the intercom, elevator bells, hurrying carts, and beeps of medical equipment. Her high heels click hurriedly down the waxed floor of the corridor. She presses the door pad for the intensive care unit and bursts inside. Only then does she stop to glance around, to catch her breath, to locate her mother...

A nurse at the desk looks up to see the beautiful girl, trim in a short tweed jacket, black skirt, and heels. Her hair, a shiny black, is pulled back in a business-style. She is very sure of herself, and only hesitates a moment before approaching the desk.

"Excuse me, I am here to see Sophia Stephenson, Sophia Giovanni-Stephenson. Can you please direct me to her room?"

"Mrs. Stephenson is not permitted to have visitors at this time. The doctor is in with her now..."

"I need to see her! She is my mother! What is going on?" The young woman's voice raised with each question. "When can I talk with the doctor?!"

"Well, I..." the nurse began, but at that time the door swung open from room 103 and a doctor appeared. He threw a report onto the desk and barked some orders at her, "I want a copy of this report sent to Dr. Thadmor. And someone needs to reach Mrs. Stephenson's next of kin...we have to talk with her family..."

"I'm family...I mean, I am Sophia Stephenson's daughter. What is happening with my mother?!"

The doctor gently took her arm and led her to a family consultation room. He shut the door quietly behind him. After settling them both into a seat, he began..."Your mother has what we call streptomyalgia, a rare cancer of the bloodstream. There is little we can do to treat it, and the prognosis isn't good. It has a survival rate of only 8% and that survival rate is among those who caught it early. We will do further tests to determine how long your mother has had the disease. Then we will decide on the type of treatment, if treatment is an option at all... I'm so sorry. We'll do all we can..."

The girl looked down at the floor, tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat. Her heart was beating frantically with the news...her mother...dying...and while she and her mother didn't always see eye to eye, she just couldn't fathom life without her...Finally she wiped her eyes. "May I see her?" she was able to ask.

"Yes, certainly, she is in room 103. She may be tired. She was very ill when she came in...then she underwent testing. Try not to overtire her or stay too long."

She shook her head a soft "yes".

When she reached the door of room 103, she wiped her eyes with her hand. She didn't want her mother to know she had been crying. She squared her shoulders and straightened her jacket...then she pushed the door open...

Seeing her mother lying there was too much for Kristina Stephenson, her eyes begin to well up again, as she sees her mother who looks pale and lifeless. How many times did she visit her mother this month? She can almost count them on one hand, but with work and her recent advancement into corporate made things hard to get out of the city and to the outskirts of town. She wished she had more time and wished she could do it all again! Going over to her mother, she takes her hand gently into hers as if she'd break it and held it like a porcelain artifact she had just found, and barely sits on the edge of the bed, teetering.

She rubs the top of her mother's hand with her thumb, feeling a creeping numbness befall her. "Oh, I wish I were laying here and not you...you don't deserve this!" She says in a sob. She begins to think about all of the times she spent with her mother growing up and being a free, fun loving spirit. Her and dad were the greatest of parents, allowing her room to grow. However, her mother was a stickler for education, and Krissy was grateful! She wouldn't be where she was now. But the thoughts of how supportive her mother, and father had been her whole life gave her a sense of dread, since she didn't come to see her as often as she'd like. "Oh mom!" Krissy leans over and lays her head on her mother's chest and gently sobs to herself.

"Kris?" Sophia heard her daughter enter, but was in and out of sleep from the medicine she was taking.

"Ma?!"

"Whassa matter honey?"

Krissy wipes away her tears and takes a deep breath. "I don't like seeing you here, is all. Wanna come home with me?" She was very good at hiding her feelings behind something to laugh at, which was usually laughing at herself.

Then like any mother who tries to shield her child from pain, Sophia tries to reassure her, "Kris, I'm going to be alright." "I know mom," she lied. " I just- I don't like seeing you….like this."

Sophia contemplated a retort, but felt weak and feeble with tubes and sounds surrounding her she felt she must look as bad as she felt. While she had strength, she would have to tell her, something she'd put off her daughter's whole life!

Sophia said a prayer and knew that moving was going to take her strength again, she had to do this quickly. "Kris, can you move my bed into a sitting position?"

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"I'm not DEAD Krissy!" Hearing her mother say those words cut her to the quick, but it was true. She was still living, and Krissy was going to show her love like she never had!

Sophia opened her eyes as she sat in an almost upright position. "Honey, listen to me. I've got to tell you something."

Kris's eyes began bubbling with tears, was this going to be the "goodbye" speech?

"You mean the world to me Kris, you know that." she continued.

Krissy nods, tears falling off of her cheeks on to her silk blouse staining it and absorbing into the fabric leaving odd shapes drying in their place. "I know ma-"

"I don't want you to talk, just listen." Krissy nods.

Before she could say another word, Dr. Thadmor and his nurse entered the room, "I'm glad you both are here. Mrs. Stephenson, the streptomyalgia we found has not yet entered into your lymph nodes. There is still a chance we could catch this, a small chance, but nonetheless a chance. Operating is an option we'd like to talk further with you about. Would it be something you'd consider?" Dr. Thadmor doesn't wait for an answer, nor does he proceed with any type of sensitivity. "We'll have to prepare you for surgery first thing in the morning."

"Do it!" Krissy says prematurely and the doctor looks down at her over the rim of his glasses, she straightens her back and clears her throat.

"Janet will be in to draw some blood cultures again so we can make sure you're going to be strong enough. I'll be back then and you can give me your answer."

"Thank you doctor." mom barely says. With that, he turns and Janet follows to get prepared to draw blood.

"Come here, sit down so I don't have to talk to you across the room."

Kris sits as close to her mom as she can and her mom takes her hand, "Listen, I've wanted to tell you this for a while now...This might not be easy to hear, but if I don't tell you now..." the thought of never telling Kristina the truth ate at Sophia, even until now. If she could make it without Max, then she wouldn't have to tell Kristina. When Jim came along, it took her need to tell her daughter the truth. She thought that finally getting it off her chest would be easy, would relieve her, but the hardest part was ahead of her, and she was going forward anyway. What if she died and Kristina never knew...

"Mom, tell me, it's okay...whatever it is."

Encouraging was one of Krissy's strengths. Sophia found solace in her words and blurted it out, "Jim is not your real father."

The words hit Kris like a ton of bricks. Her face began to flush and her hands began to sweat, "What do you mean? Mom, this is no time to play."

"I'm not playing Kristina."

Kris could see in her mother's eyes she meant it. How could she do this to her NOW?! Kristina stands to her feet, furious at the words that evade her existence. "Who is he?!" She spits out shifting her weight to one foot and moving her hands in the air as she spoke.

"His name is Max Brenner." Sophia reaches under her pillow and pulls out a manila envelope that is bulging with information. She looks at Kristina who is livid to the point she could not produce any tears. "Here, I've saved this for you."

"I don't want it! I don't want to hear that my father, who raised me and loved me and supported me, supported US! isn't my real dad! This isn't something you just withhold a lifetime mom!"

Sophia knew it was true, she knew she should have told her long ago, but thought it was something she would never have to tell. How stupid could she be to think she should have held this from her. "It's true Kris! And you have to accept it. I wanted to tell you-"

"You should have! Where is he?!" Kristina was angry and snatched the envelope from her mother's frail grip. She pulls out a newspaper clipping of a robust looking man with a cigar in his mouth. She can tell that he's nothing like her dad, so genteel and mannerisms of a church mouse. He looked pompous and arrogant and rich! RICH! But she could see certain features in his kind looking face that reminded her of her self, and it sent her emotions into a tail spin of anger. Tears begin to fall around his face in the picture, "How could you do this to me? -How could you do this to dad?!"

"Krissy, please let me explain-"

"I don't want you to explain, you've said enough!" Christina turns and stomps out of the hospital room with the envelope en tow. The first thing that came to her mind was hate. Hate for the man who obviously abandoned them and didn't own up to his responsibilities. Oh, he'd pay dearly for making her cry.