Chapter 10 - A New Day Has Come

Sorry for the delay. I was home for Memorial Day and then was busy with my job, while simultaneously battling a case of "writer's block." This chapter might be shorter than I wanted, but I figured that you would be dying to see what happens.

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Otto knew he had to focus on school again now that Spring Break was over. In fact, the whole ordeal with Amy had caused him and the rest of the gang to miss a whole week of school. They all had assignments and readings to make up; fortunately, there were no tests scheduled for any of them that week. He still felt some pain from the surgery, especially in his hip. Because of that, he didn't return to Madtown for about a week. The doctor said that recovery for someone his age would be quick (in fact, his body would replace the donated marrow in a matter of weeks) and he wasn't lying. In no time Otto was back to his adventurous self.

At first, nobody knew why the four friends had been out of school at the same time. There were no sporting events announced that they would have been competing in. Besides, Otto would have bragged about the upcoming conversation anyway, especially about how he was going to win it. Later on, Twister finally admitted what happened when his A/V teacher asked during Video Media class. The teacher was taken back by the story Twister told. He decided that the other teachers should be made aware of what Otto had done. Pretty soon, the word leaked out from the teachers to the students, and many began treating Otto like he was some kind of hero. Sure, this had happened before, but that was usually when Otto won some surf or skate competition for his school. This time, however, Otto had done something much more important: he had given the gift of life to someone else.

Normally, when Otto received so much attention, he would easily begin to feed on it and to gloat. This time, however, Otto humbly took the praise. In fact, the whole ordeal had changed his outlook on life. All of a sudden, being the best had lost its glamour; now as long as he was the "best" in his own eyes, he didn't care what others thought. He also no longer took anything for granted. Every wipeout, fall, and bruise reminded him that he should be fortunate for the life he has had, as it could always be worse.

Otto was constantly wondering how Amy was doing. He had talked to her a few times but it was too early for anybody to know if the transplant had had the desired effect. She had been really sick, so although Otto tried to remain hopeful, he doubted that even a bone marrow transplant could keep her alive beyond a year.

The days turned in to weeks. To Otto's dismay, Amy was able to talk less and less often. To Otto, it was a bad sign that she was still sick. When he asked about her condition, she always said that they didn't know yet. According to the doctor, it would take 5 or more weeks until she could even possibly consider going home. They had to make sure the marrow wasn't rejected and that her immune system had re-established itself enough to protect her.

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It had been six weeks since the surgery and Amy longed to return home. After a week, she had regained enough energy to be able to get out of bed with very little help and to walk short distances. Of course, they kept close tabs on her so she wasn't exposed to germs for too long. In fact, unbeknownst to Otto, she was constantly wearing a breathing mask to shield her from airborne germs. She passed the rest of her time as best as she could. She did have family and her friends visit her often and they often played games or watched movies to help keep her company.

I was waiting for so long
For a miracle to come
Everyone told me to be strong
Hold on and don't shed a tear

Through the darkness and good times
I knew I'd make it through
And the world thought I had it all
But I was waiting for you

Dr. Townsend came in every few days to do blood tests. Unfortunately, although her blood counts seemed to be increasing gradually, the results were inconclusive so there was no indication whether or not the cancer had been defeated. On the good side, Amy showed no signs of rejection, meaning that Otto had been a sufficient match for her body.

Speaking of that boy, that selfless boy who had helped her so much, she could not stop thinking about him. The dog he bought her stayed by her bed the entire time and she pressed its paw at least once daily to hear Otto's voice. She felt such a close connection with him, beyond that of having a part of him keeping her alive (at least she hoped). Her life was now brighter because of the whole situation. She had been reunited with her best friend and he ended up saving her from death. Even if it were only temporary, she felt more at peace and she was no longer as afraid as before.

They finally decided that they needed to take a small sample of bone marrow to get a better indication of her progress. So once again, they inserted a hollow needle in to hip and took out a very small amount of marrow. It took about a day of analysis but they were able to determine that she was well enough to go home. However, they wanted her to come back in 4 weeks to take some x-rays and to do more tests to see what time had done for her. So after six weeks of waiting in a hospital, Amy finally returned to the outside world. She had never been happier in her life although she didn't know that that would soon change. Her brush with death had been averted, but the question was for how long.

The first thing Amy did after getting home was make a call to Otto to tell him that she had been released. He was ecstatic and desperately wanted to visit her. However, both dads thought that now wasn't a good time. Otto was still in school and Amy had school work to catch up on. They did vow to keep in touch in the meantime and couldn't wait until hero and recipient were re-united.

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Another four weeks passed and once again Amy was in the office of her oncologist. They had taken several x-rays and several samples of blood as well as another small amount of bone marrow. Amy hated being poked so many times but she was used to it by then. Besides, it wasn't nearly as painful as her life had been before the transplant.

Again, they needed a few days to analyze the results. Finally, Amy and her dad received a phone call from the doctor. Usually, the doctor would summarize the results and would then send paper copies by mail. This time, however, he insisted that they return to the office and would not say anything else. The two of them expected the worse; the transplant had only delayed the inevitable.

"Amy," the doctor started after they had settled down in his office, "I have been working in this profession for 25 years, as you know. I've seen a lot of kids like you come through my office. We try our best to support the family and to treat whatever cancer the child has as best as we can. In fact, I've treated dozens of children who have had the exact same scenario as you had: second stage leukemia. Some receive bone marrow transplants, some never find a donor. Sadly......a lot of patients from both groups......well, they haven't made it......either because they couldn't be treated or because the treatment wasn't as successful as we hoped. As we told you before the surgery, you had about a one-third chance of fully recovering and ridding your body of cancer hopefully for good."

"This is it," Amy thought with a slight bit of fear building in her heart.

"Your case has been very unique. Your donor wasn't a family member yet he wasn't a total stranger. I wasn't sure if this situation were even possible. All I can say is that your best friend is some kind of superhero. He must be in super-good health."

"What are you saying, doctor?" Amy's dad cut in.

"What I'm saying is, all of our tests confirmed that..." he took a breath and then continued, "we can't find any sign of cancer."

Where it was dark now there's light
Where there was pain now there's joy
Where there was weakness, I found my strength
All in the eyes of a boy

Amy's eyes lit up and her father's jaw dropped in shock. Amy began to cry and the two hugged. The tears, of course, weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of joy.

"Now," the doctor interrupted, "we just need to check on you periodically to make sure that you're still in remission. If nothing comes back within 5 years, we can declare that the cancer is officially gone."

"Oh, thank you doctor. Thank you so much," Amy cried as she hugged the doctor.

"Don't thank me." he insisted. "Thank your friend. It seems that he has probably saved your life."

Let the rain come down and wash away my tears
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun
A new day has...come

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"Dad," Amy discussed later that night, "we need to do something to surprise Otto. He's done so much to me. It's almost like...he's an angel that was sent to help me."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"A long time ago, I promised that I would walk a thousand miles to see Otto."

"What!? Are you serious? You can't walk a thousand miles. I doubt anyone your age, let alone a recent cancer patient, could do that." He thought for a second. "Tell you what, I know how much Otto means to you. In fact, he means so much to me too because he saved you. Let me do some work. I don't think I can let you walk a thousand miles, but I have another idea."

"OK, shoot." Amy insisted.

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What is their plan? Will Otto find out what has happened?

If I don't update for a while, don't think I have forgotten the story. After this final week of work at school, I am helping relatives move out and they don't have Internet access there.