This chapter was written by a friend of mine.
Chapter 5 A Sibling's Gift
"Okay, so what do we do?" Julia asked, holding the test results in her hands. Steven walked in the room rubbing his eyes,
"How's it look?" he asked. Julia shook her head,
"Not good. You saw that burn during surgery, that can't be good."
"How do you think it happened?" Steven asked.
"Probably chemicals of some sort" Julia sighed.
"Are you sure?" Steven questioned.
"Yeah" Julia answered with a worried tone. "Unfortunately I don't think this kid's a flame either"
"Hah" Steven chuckled. "Yeah, guess not." There was a sorrowful silence for a few minutes before Steven broke it, "So what's the next step?" he asked. Julia sighed,
"Another physical." she continued to flip through the test results with Steven looking over her shoulder. Everything looked normal, relatively speaking.
"Alright," Julia sighed, "I'm off. Let's see how he's doing" She dropped the papers on the desk. They fanned out and something caught Steven's eye.
"Wait" he stopped Julia, "What's this?" he questioned. Julia looked down where he was pointing. She stared for a while as her mouth dropped open. She put her hand over her mouth,
"Oh no" she whispered."
"What is it?" Steven asked.
"Look" Julia pointed down. She pointed to the kidneys. There were splotches of black.
"Uh oh" Steven whispered. He looked at Julia. He mouthed something; Julia nodded, pursed her lips, looked down at the floor, and sighed.
"I'll go do the physical and inform the parents," She said.
"Do you want me to?" Steven asked Julia,
"No thanks, I'm on it," She answered.
Julia walked into the waiting room where Jake and Kate were quietly waiting. Jake's face was tearstained, his eyes, red and puffy. He was sitting with his head in his knees. Kate was rubbing his back, trying to comfort him. Julia heard muffled sobs coming from Jake as Kate whispered comforting things in his ears. "Ehem" Julia cleared her throat. Kate looked up, Jake sat up and wiped his tears.
"Jake, I'm going to have to take you in for another check up, pal. I'm sorry" Julia said quietly. Kate noticed the worry in her eyes, but didn't say a word. She didn't want to worry Jake.
"Alright bud, let's take a look" Julia said as Jake sat up on the examination table. "Tell me what hurts"
"Everything" Jake moaned
"Hmm, can you be a little more specific?" she asked. Jake rolled his eyes. "Come on, I gotta know this stuff"
"Everything" Jake insisted. He was choking on tears.
"Okay, does your head hurt?" Julia asked. She needed specific answers, and Jake just wasn't helping her.
"Yeah" Jake answered. "I feel like I got hit in the head with a hammer"
"Oh boy" Julia said. "Maybe its just from crying… sometimes that happens you know. Crying can give you headaches"
"Yeah I guess" Jake replied, "Ahh!" Jake moaned, grabbing his head
"What is it Jake?" Julia answered. No response, "Jake!" she yelled
"Aaahhh, it hurts!" Jake screamed, twisting his body. He started to cry, still holding his head
"What hurts Jake!" Julia was panicking
"My head… that noise!"
"Okay, okay," Julia tried to soothe Jake. After about five minutes, Jake stopped screaming.
"You need some rest" Julia said. "We can finish this in a few hours."
"Thank you" Jake sighed. He began to lie down on the table. Julia left the room and shut off the light
"Night, Jake" she whispered
Out in the hallway, Kate ran up to Julia.
"What was that?" she demanded.
"Just a little sinus headache" Julia answered, lying through her teeth. "Mrs. Baker," she started. It was time for serious matters. "Please sit down."
"What is it?" Kate asked. She sounded nervous.
"Kate," Julia took a deep breath, "Jake is suffering from kidney failure. If we wait any longer then three days, it will kill him"
Kate gasped and put her hand over her mouth.
"What can we do?" she asked, trembling
"We need to find a donor," Julia answered
"Who?" Kate sighed
"A sibling would be the best match," Julia said
"Okay," Kate said, "Give me an hour or so. I'll find someone." She got up and walked out of the hospital. Julia sat in the waiting room, watching Jake sleep through the window. Oh please she thought, looking up at the ceiling Please don't let anything happen to this boy… he's too young
Meanwhile, Kate was speeding home. She parked the car in the driveway, and ran into the house. "Kids, on the carpet. NOW!" she demanded.
"What's up dude?" Mike asked, rubbing his eyes. "I was taking a nap"
"Where are your brothers and sisters?" Kate asked, shaking
"Right here mom" Sarah answered. She appeared on the stairs with Henry and Charlie.
"Listen kids" Kate started, "I really don't know how to say this."
"Oh no" Sarah trembled, grabbing Charlie's hand. Her lips started to quiver.
"Jake's okay… for the moment" Kate reassured them. "But we have a problem, and only one of you can fix it"
"What is it mom?" Charlie asked
"Jake's kidneys are failing. He needs a new one or else he won't make it"
"So… what can we do?" asked Mike
"Julia says a sibling would have the best match so…" Kate started.
"I'll do it" Sarah declared, stepping down off the steps, she was shaking. "If that's what its gonna take to save Jake… I'll do anything"