The second week of September...
Scully watched with envy as two of Reyes' bridemaids, Lee Murasaki and Kate Queen, left the bridal shop. She'd only just met them, since they had been college chums of Reyes. She hadn't met the rest of the women, but supposed she would as the fittings continued. The seemingly endless dress fittings.
As excited as Scully was for Reyes and Doggett, dress fittings were something she could live without. Unfortunately, she had been required to go with Reyes and have adjustments made several times; an experience that was beginning to remind her of graduation practices for reasons she couldn't put a finger on. Maybe it was the wearing of unfamiliar costumes, she mused. At least, she thought, she wasn't expected to wear an actual costume, despite the Halloween date for the wedding. Mulder had made the suggestion to Doggett, who had loudly vetoed it before realizing that Mulder hadn't been serious despite his deadpanning.
While Reyes' back was turned to talk to the dressmaker, Scully looked down at her dress and frowned. She supposed it was only fitting that she disliked her dress, since most bridesmaids and maids of honor do, and she suspected the dresses were purposely made to look hideous so no comely bridesmaid ever stole the limelight from the bride. She had to admit that Reyes had tried, though. When they were discussing dresses, Reyes had told her that she looked lovely in green, and Scully had thanked her and said she did like green even though she seldom wore it. However, Scully had dark green in mind when she seconded green being a good color for bridesmaid dresses, not a pale, minty green. Of course the dress was a minty color.
However, she thought to herself with a small smile, Emily did look lovely while wearing a flower girl dress the same color. Scully heard her drop the basket of fake flowers that she was "practicing" with, so she turned, expecting to give Emily a hand cleaning them up. Instead she found herself rushing to Emily's side a moment after the girl swayed on her feet and passed out.
**
Scully wrung her hands as she waited to talk to the doctor outside of Emily's room. He'd asked her to step into the hallway, and had been accosted by a nurse before speaking to her. Scully gave the nurse an irritated glance, then looked into the girl's room.
Mulder was sitting in a chair by Emily's bed, holding her hand. Scully couldn't make out any of his words, but the gentle murmur of his voice leaked out into the hallway. Emily, looking pale and somewhat frightened, mostly nodded her responses to his words, saying very little herself. Scully sighed as she continued to wait. She knew she should be grateful that Emily had come around so quickly, but fear drown that particular emotion.
"I'm sorry about that." The doctor apologized as the nurse scurried off. " I have some of the test results back on your daughter. You yourself are a doctor, correct?" He waited for her to nod. "That'll make this all easier to explain then. If you wouldn't mind stepping into the next room..." He lead her into an office, the back wall of which was set up to view x-rays and other films.
Flicking on the light, and picking up the first MRI film, he said. "This is an old MRI of Emily, from when you said she got ill in 1997." He put up the film and something in Scully's chest hitched as she stared at the familiar, tumor riddled, image. He pushed it aside and hung up another next to it. "And this is the film we took an hour ago. As you can see, none of the tumors are still present." A faint smile played on his lips, then faded.
Scully felt weak with relief as she looked at the clear film. "That's good news," she said in a tired voice; the toll knowing nothing for the last three hours was beginning to show.
"I agree, but she's still severely anemic, and is not responding as well as I'd like. We've given her iron, but there seems to be a congenital cause for her body's inadequate ability to capture iron." He said, sounding faintly puzzled.
"She's been anemic her entire life. My..." Scully searched for an adequate label, than gave up. "Mulder spoke to her doctor before the man died of a knife wound. The doctor told him that Emily might eventually need a bone marrow transplant."
The doctor thought that over. "While that's usually a procedure done only in cancer cases, it does have its merits as a possible solution." He said slowly. "If donor marrow was successful in gaining a hold in her body, it's conceivable that the anemia would reverse itself once her body started producing red blood cells that worked properly."
"But are you willing to try it?" Scully asked, thinking about how difficult it could be to get approval for unconventional treatments.
The doctor seemed to read her mind. "Given how ill this has made her in the past," he said, skipping over the part about how this very hospital declared her dead from the illness. ""I should be able to get aggressive measures approved more quickly than otherwise. Besides, it is an approved treatment in some forms of anemic, like aplastic. Do you know which kind she has? I can look in her records, but I didn't have time to before speaking to you. " The doctor said, looking embarrassed to admit that.
"She has auto-immune hemolytic anemia." Scully told him.
"I'm fairly sure that I've heard of that being treated with a bone marrow transplant. Because auto-immune diseases are similar to cancer in that they attack the body's tissue, there are many cross-treatments used. So it should be even easier to get approved than I originally thought." The doctor said almost cheerfully.
"I'm glad to hear that." Scully said quietly. "What do we do next?"
"I'll continue to give her iron, since it seems to be helping some, while I get approval for a bone marrow transplant, and we begin looking for a donor. I'm sure you'll want preliminary typing tests done on yourself, her father, and perhaps on any other children you have, since relatives are usually the easiest matches to find."
Scully gave him a distraught look. "The identify of Emily's father is unknown. To be perfectly honest with you, I didn't carry Emily. Someone, without my consent, used one of my eggs, which was in storage, "Scully abandoned the pretense of honesty, and decided it would be easier to let him think she was an IVF patient. "to conceive her and had her carried to term by a surrogate. What if I'm not a good match? I only have one other child, a sixteen month old son, who might not match either, given he's only her half-brother. I suppose there's my mother and brothers, but they're even less likely to match, aren't they?"
The doctor gave her a reassuring look. "Hopefully one of you will be a match. And if not, your daughter may well benefit from database that D.C. hospitals are keeping of DNA test results. In the six months since the program's inception, we've found eighteen non-relative bone marrow donors. A surprising number of strangers are willing to help save the lives of those in need. So much for common man's nature to ignore the plight of others, eh?" He asked with a smile.
"Thank you. The only better news you could have given me would be to say Emily could come home tonight." Scully said wryly.
"I'm sorry, but if she was your patient, I'm sure you'd favor keeping her monitored at the hospital as well."
Scully thought for a moment about how few of her patients ever had pulses. "I know, wishful thinking I suppose."
"With a little luck she'll be home before you know it." Scully thanked him, and turned to watch him walk down the hallway, on his way to change another life.
**
Emily's eyes welled up with tears as Scully walked into the room and Mulder excused himself so he could find a restroom. Emily looked up at Scully and said "Mommy, I'm sorry I ruined the wedding."
Scully gave her a hug, surprised that that was what was bothering her. " Don't be silly, Sweetie, the wedding isn't for a long time yet."
"But..." Emily hung her head. "But if I'm sick, Reyes won't want me to be the flower girl any more."
"Oh, Honey, you'll be all better by then, you'll see." Scully said a bit too brightly as she tried to convince them both.
"But I can't go home tonight, can I?" Emily asked sadly.
"I wish you could." Scully gave her an apologetic look. "But the doctor said you'll get better faster here than you would at home."
"I know." Emily frown in resignation. "I'm going to miss Will though." She said, referring to the hospital's policy of not allowing visitors under twelve years of age.
Scully thought it was archaic thinking, since most hospitals discontinued that rule by the 90's. Because she couldn't get an exception made, William was at her mother's house. "I'm sure he'll miss you too, Emily. You concentrate on getting better, and you'll be back to playing with him in no time."
"Ok, Mommy." Emily said sleepily. Scully sat with her until she was sound asleep.
**
Scully stuffed Emily's belongings into a bag two days later as she readied the girl to go home. The doctor released her because she'd stabilized, and he thought that he could trust Scully, a fellow doctor, to keep her on the iron regiment, and keep her quiet, since there really wasn't anything the hospital would do differently while they waited to find a donor. Before Scully picked Emily up, despite the girl's protests that she could walk, he assured her that the preliminary match test results would be in within forty-eight hours. Scully thanked him.
"Put me down!" Emily demanded as he walked out of the room.
"Humor your mom, would you? It's not going to be too long before I can't pick you up any more. "
"But I'm little." Emily corrected her, thinking about how much smaller she was than her classmates, but forgetting to take their being older into account.
"I know, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty little for a grown up, you know." Scully said wryly.
Emily thought that over for a moment. "Yeah, you're lots shorter than Reyes. Am I going to be short too?" Emily asked curiously.
"It's hard to tell yet. You're only seven-"
"I'm going to be eight soon." Emily interrupted.
"Ok, you're going to eight soon, but girls don't usually stop growing until they're in their mid teens."
Emily's eyes widened. "That's not for forever!"
Scully shook her head slightly. It sooner than you realize, she thought. " Ok, enough talk, I'm getting tired. Ready to be carried to the car?"
Emily giggled. "I guess so, Mom. Can we watch a movie when we get home?" She asked, wrapping her arm more tightly around Scully's neck.
"As long as you don't strangle me before we get to the car." Scully said. Emily laughed and took the hint to loosen her grip.
Scully watched with envy as two of Reyes' bridemaids, Lee Murasaki and Kate Queen, left the bridal shop. She'd only just met them, since they had been college chums of Reyes. She hadn't met the rest of the women, but supposed she would as the fittings continued. The seemingly endless dress fittings.
As excited as Scully was for Reyes and Doggett, dress fittings were something she could live without. Unfortunately, she had been required to go with Reyes and have adjustments made several times; an experience that was beginning to remind her of graduation practices for reasons she couldn't put a finger on. Maybe it was the wearing of unfamiliar costumes, she mused. At least, she thought, she wasn't expected to wear an actual costume, despite the Halloween date for the wedding. Mulder had made the suggestion to Doggett, who had loudly vetoed it before realizing that Mulder hadn't been serious despite his deadpanning.
While Reyes' back was turned to talk to the dressmaker, Scully looked down at her dress and frowned. She supposed it was only fitting that she disliked her dress, since most bridesmaids and maids of honor do, and she suspected the dresses were purposely made to look hideous so no comely bridesmaid ever stole the limelight from the bride. She had to admit that Reyes had tried, though. When they were discussing dresses, Reyes had told her that she looked lovely in green, and Scully had thanked her and said she did like green even though she seldom wore it. However, Scully had dark green in mind when she seconded green being a good color for bridesmaid dresses, not a pale, minty green. Of course the dress was a minty color.
However, she thought to herself with a small smile, Emily did look lovely while wearing a flower girl dress the same color. Scully heard her drop the basket of fake flowers that she was "practicing" with, so she turned, expecting to give Emily a hand cleaning them up. Instead she found herself rushing to Emily's side a moment after the girl swayed on her feet and passed out.
**
Scully wrung her hands as she waited to talk to the doctor outside of Emily's room. He'd asked her to step into the hallway, and had been accosted by a nurse before speaking to her. Scully gave the nurse an irritated glance, then looked into the girl's room.
Mulder was sitting in a chair by Emily's bed, holding her hand. Scully couldn't make out any of his words, but the gentle murmur of his voice leaked out into the hallway. Emily, looking pale and somewhat frightened, mostly nodded her responses to his words, saying very little herself. Scully sighed as she continued to wait. She knew she should be grateful that Emily had come around so quickly, but fear drown that particular emotion.
"I'm sorry about that." The doctor apologized as the nurse scurried off. " I have some of the test results back on your daughter. You yourself are a doctor, correct?" He waited for her to nod. "That'll make this all easier to explain then. If you wouldn't mind stepping into the next room..." He lead her into an office, the back wall of which was set up to view x-rays and other films.
Flicking on the light, and picking up the first MRI film, he said. "This is an old MRI of Emily, from when you said she got ill in 1997." He put up the film and something in Scully's chest hitched as she stared at the familiar, tumor riddled, image. He pushed it aside and hung up another next to it. "And this is the film we took an hour ago. As you can see, none of the tumors are still present." A faint smile played on his lips, then faded.
Scully felt weak with relief as she looked at the clear film. "That's good news," she said in a tired voice; the toll knowing nothing for the last three hours was beginning to show.
"I agree, but she's still severely anemic, and is not responding as well as I'd like. We've given her iron, but there seems to be a congenital cause for her body's inadequate ability to capture iron." He said, sounding faintly puzzled.
"She's been anemic her entire life. My..." Scully searched for an adequate label, than gave up. "Mulder spoke to her doctor before the man died of a knife wound. The doctor told him that Emily might eventually need a bone marrow transplant."
The doctor thought that over. "While that's usually a procedure done only in cancer cases, it does have its merits as a possible solution." He said slowly. "If donor marrow was successful in gaining a hold in her body, it's conceivable that the anemia would reverse itself once her body started producing red blood cells that worked properly."
"But are you willing to try it?" Scully asked, thinking about how difficult it could be to get approval for unconventional treatments.
The doctor seemed to read her mind. "Given how ill this has made her in the past," he said, skipping over the part about how this very hospital declared her dead from the illness. ""I should be able to get aggressive measures approved more quickly than otherwise. Besides, it is an approved treatment in some forms of anemic, like aplastic. Do you know which kind she has? I can look in her records, but I didn't have time to before speaking to you. " The doctor said, looking embarrassed to admit that.
"She has auto-immune hemolytic anemia." Scully told him.
"I'm fairly sure that I've heard of that being treated with a bone marrow transplant. Because auto-immune diseases are similar to cancer in that they attack the body's tissue, there are many cross-treatments used. So it should be even easier to get approved than I originally thought." The doctor said almost cheerfully.
"I'm glad to hear that." Scully said quietly. "What do we do next?"
"I'll continue to give her iron, since it seems to be helping some, while I get approval for a bone marrow transplant, and we begin looking for a donor. I'm sure you'll want preliminary typing tests done on yourself, her father, and perhaps on any other children you have, since relatives are usually the easiest matches to find."
Scully gave him a distraught look. "The identify of Emily's father is unknown. To be perfectly honest with you, I didn't carry Emily. Someone, without my consent, used one of my eggs, which was in storage, "Scully abandoned the pretense of honesty, and decided it would be easier to let him think she was an IVF patient. "to conceive her and had her carried to term by a surrogate. What if I'm not a good match? I only have one other child, a sixteen month old son, who might not match either, given he's only her half-brother. I suppose there's my mother and brothers, but they're even less likely to match, aren't they?"
The doctor gave her a reassuring look. "Hopefully one of you will be a match. And if not, your daughter may well benefit from database that D.C. hospitals are keeping of DNA test results. In the six months since the program's inception, we've found eighteen non-relative bone marrow donors. A surprising number of strangers are willing to help save the lives of those in need. So much for common man's nature to ignore the plight of others, eh?" He asked with a smile.
"Thank you. The only better news you could have given me would be to say Emily could come home tonight." Scully said wryly.
"I'm sorry, but if she was your patient, I'm sure you'd favor keeping her monitored at the hospital as well."
Scully thought for a moment about how few of her patients ever had pulses. "I know, wishful thinking I suppose."
"With a little luck she'll be home before you know it." Scully thanked him, and turned to watch him walk down the hallway, on his way to change another life.
**
Emily's eyes welled up with tears as Scully walked into the room and Mulder excused himself so he could find a restroom. Emily looked up at Scully and said "Mommy, I'm sorry I ruined the wedding."
Scully gave her a hug, surprised that that was what was bothering her. " Don't be silly, Sweetie, the wedding isn't for a long time yet."
"But..." Emily hung her head. "But if I'm sick, Reyes won't want me to be the flower girl any more."
"Oh, Honey, you'll be all better by then, you'll see." Scully said a bit too brightly as she tried to convince them both.
"But I can't go home tonight, can I?" Emily asked sadly.
"I wish you could." Scully gave her an apologetic look. "But the doctor said you'll get better faster here than you would at home."
"I know." Emily frown in resignation. "I'm going to miss Will though." She said, referring to the hospital's policy of not allowing visitors under twelve years of age.
Scully thought it was archaic thinking, since most hospitals discontinued that rule by the 90's. Because she couldn't get an exception made, William was at her mother's house. "I'm sure he'll miss you too, Emily. You concentrate on getting better, and you'll be back to playing with him in no time."
"Ok, Mommy." Emily said sleepily. Scully sat with her until she was sound asleep.
**
Scully stuffed Emily's belongings into a bag two days later as she readied the girl to go home. The doctor released her because she'd stabilized, and he thought that he could trust Scully, a fellow doctor, to keep her on the iron regiment, and keep her quiet, since there really wasn't anything the hospital would do differently while they waited to find a donor. Before Scully picked Emily up, despite the girl's protests that she could walk, he assured her that the preliminary match test results would be in within forty-eight hours. Scully thanked him.
"Put me down!" Emily demanded as he walked out of the room.
"Humor your mom, would you? It's not going to be too long before I can't pick you up any more. "
"But I'm little." Emily corrected her, thinking about how much smaller she was than her classmates, but forgetting to take their being older into account.
"I know, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty little for a grown up, you know." Scully said wryly.
Emily thought that over for a moment. "Yeah, you're lots shorter than Reyes. Am I going to be short too?" Emily asked curiously.
"It's hard to tell yet. You're only seven-"
"I'm going to be eight soon." Emily interrupted.
"Ok, you're going to eight soon, but girls don't usually stop growing until they're in their mid teens."
Emily's eyes widened. "That's not for forever!"
Scully shook her head slightly. It sooner than you realize, she thought. " Ok, enough talk, I'm getting tired. Ready to be carried to the car?"
Emily giggled. "I guess so, Mom. Can we watch a movie when we get home?" She asked, wrapping her arm more tightly around Scully's neck.
"As long as you don't strangle me before we get to the car." Scully said. Emily laughed and took the hint to loosen her grip.
