Chapter Eight
"David get up." Roberta's face of Gordo's a week later at three in the morning makes Gordo's heart sink.
"What?" Gordo bolts up in bed, "is it Lizzie?"
Roberta nods, "yes."
"Is she..." Gordo lets his sentence travel not wanting his mother to confirm his worst fear.
"No," Roberta shakes her head, "they are prepping her for surgery."
"They found a kidney?" Gordo asks.
Roberta nods, "they think so. They are prepping her for surgery just to be sure."
"We have to go." Gordo states.
Roberta nods, "I know, your Dad is on his way over, he wants to ride with us."
Once Gordo is settled into the car he pulls out his cell phone quickly hitting the second speed dial, Miranda's voice is sleepy and scared when she answers her phone, "Gordo?"
"Get to the hospital," Gordo states quickly, "as soon as possible."
"I'm on my way." Miranda hangs up the phone after her words and Gordo closes his phone.
Gordo comes to skidding halt in front of the McGuire family, "what's going on?" He asks, suddenly reminded of the night only a week earlier where they had been in the exact opposite situation.
"They found a possible candidate and from what we understand she is one of three possible recipients the other two are in Arizona and New Mexico, they are running tests to see who is the best recipient, but they prep all three possibilities so they are ready." Sam explains.
"How is she?" Gordo asks.
"She's nervous, but excited." Jo responds.
"When will they tell us?" Roberta asks.
Jo shrugs, "soon I hope."
"What's going on?" Miranda bursts into the room on the verge of tears with her parents in tow.
"They might have found a donor for Lizzie." Matt states.
Miranda hits Gordo hard, "jerk."
"What?" Gordo asks startled by his best friend's response.
"You didn't think to I don't know tell me this on the phone?" Miranda asks.
Gordo winces, "sorry. I didn't think about it..."
"Obviously," Miranda mutters. "Wait, what do you mean they might have?"
Jo and Sam re-explain everything to Miranda and her parents and then the group falls into an anxious silence as they wait for someone to come out and tell them something, anything. And eventually a doctor does come into the room, he's an on call doctor and they are all unable to read he's expression. "Mr. and Mrs. McGuire?" The doctor calls softly.
"That's us," Jo and Sam stand up with everyone else gathered around behind them.
"I'm sorry," the doctor sigh sadly, "they found that the other two patients are better recipients."
Sam wraps a comforting arm around Jo and everyone else makes moves of comforting each other but Gordo just blinks and walks away. "Gordo!" Roberta calls after him.
"I have to see Lizzie." Gordo states before walking away.
When he reaches her room he finds that they are just getting her settled back into her room and she has her back faced to the door, "Lizzie," Gordo calls softly.
"Gordo," Lizzie turns around to face Gordo and he can see that she has been crying, something he hasn't seen her do in weeks.
Gordo quickly covers the space in-between them and he kisses her and whispers, "I'm so, so sorry."
Lizzie wraps her arms around Gordo, clinging to him, "I thought that I was going to get lucky. I thought it was time for me to get my life back."
Gordo gently smooths Lizzie's hair, "I wanted this for you too."
"I don't want to die Gordo." Lizzie whispers her confession. "I've tried to be strong, but I don't want to die. I just want to graduate and go to college and be a normal girl and for a little while I thought I was going to get that."
"You will Lizzie," Gordo responds fiercely.
"I'm scared Gordo, I'm so scared." Lizzie's words are thick with tears.
"We'll get through this Lizzie," Gordo whispers back, "I know we will."
Lizzie pulls away from Gordo and stares at him, her eyes shimmering with tears, "Gordo there is no we. This disease is killing me."
Gordo moves back as if Lizzie's words have some physical effect on him, "I didn't realize."
Lizzie's face crumbles, "Gordo I'm sorry..."
"No," Gordo shakes his head, "you're right. I'm being insensitive, I should go, I'll um send your parents in."
"Gordo, you don't have to go," Lizzie responds, "I didn't mean it the way it sounded. Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad," Gordo plants a quick kiss on Lizzie's forehead, "but I have to go. Get some fresh air..."
Walking down the hallway Gordo doesn't really have anywhere to go and he doesn't realize he is walking straight towards his parents until they are right in front of him, "we should talk." Howard states.
"No," Gordo shakes his head, his tone defeated.
"David, really we need to talk." Roberta states.
"No, I don't want to hear some damn psychobabble shit." Gordo states his tone harsh and startling to his parents.
"David..." Howard's begins.
"No." Gordo states more firmly, "I'm not one of your patients and I don't need to talk to you about my feelings. My girlfriend is dying," Gordo says the words as if he is just realizing them for the first time, "and I don't want to have to talk to shrinks about it."
With his words Gordo shoves past his parents and jogs down the hall and out of the pediatrics section not wanting to see Lizzie's family, Miranda and least of all not wanting to have to see or deal with his parents. Reaching into his jeans pockets Gordo is relieved to find that he has his keys in his pocket. Slipping into the drivers seat Gordo doesn't think about the fact that he is leaving his parents stranded at the hospital without a car and he pulls out of the parking spot so fast his tires squeal. Within minutes Gordo stops in front of the park and getting out of the car he slowly makes his way to the pond in the center of the park with the tree that have his and Lizzie's initials carved into them. Gordo stops in front of the tree tracing the letters, they'd carved them there years ago and every year on their anniversary they had a picnic under the tree and added a notch next to the heart. There were all ready two there and with a start Gordo realizes that today was the day that they should be adding a third one, but he refuses to add it without Lizzie and part of Gordo knows that he won't be adding another notch with her, that their time together is drawing to a close.