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Chapter 6: Distractions
A month had passed. Jack had undergone another round of chemotherapy and a third scheduled for the next day.
Finn and Rachel were surprised by how well treatment was going for Jack. After his second treatment, he was released from the hospital after one day.
Things continued to be chaotic at the Hudson household. Despite their best efforts to stop neglecting their three oldest kids, Finn and Rachel put most of their energy into taking care of Jack and babying him. The night before Jack's third round of chemo, Rachel called her dads and asked them to spend the weekend with Jack so she and Finn could spend it with Ryan, Emma and Sarah.
"Sarah has wanted to get her ears pierced for a while now," Rachel said to Finn as they sat in the waiting room during Jack's chemo. "I think we should give in to her request. I know in the past our rule was not before ten and that's what we did with Emma, but back then things were normal for us. I'm also feeling terrible guilt knowing that I missed her recital at school when Jack was having chemo. This could be something fun for Sarah, Emma and me to do this weekend while Dad and Daddy are with Jack."
"It would probably be good for you and the girls to do something this weekend," Finn said. "Ryan has a soccer game in Akron this weekend, so I'd like to take him to it and then do something afterwards."
"I feel guilty about not spending time with Jack this weekend, but we have to remember that we've been spending LESS time with Ryan, Emma and Sarah," Rachel said. "Ever since Jack got sick it's been all about him. This weekend can be all about Ryan, Emma and Sarah."
Finn leaned in and kissed Rachel on the forehead. "I like the sound of that."
x
Jack's doctors wanted to keep him in the hospital a few extra days after this round of chemo. Finn and Rachel felt slightly guilty leaving him, but they knew Rachel's dads would take care of him while they spent much delayed quality time with their older children. On Saturday morning Finn and Ryan took off for Akron for Ryan's soccer game while Rachel, Emma and Sarah got in the car to go to the mall.
"Why aren't you and Daddy at the hospital?" Emma asked as they drove.
Rachel smiled. "Grandpa Hiram and Grandpa Leroy are hanging out with Jack today, so I could spend time with my girls. Besides, I have a surprise. Sarah, you know how you've wanted to get your ears pierced?"
Sarah made a pouty face. "Yeah Mommy, and I remember what you said when Emma got hers done. Not until I'm ten."
Rachel smiled at Sarah through the mirror. "Well, Daddy and I talked about it and we think that Emma could have done it a lot earlier and you're ready."
Sarah got a big smile. "When can I get them done?"
"How about today?" Rachel asked. "We're going to the mall now."
Sarah started bouncing in her seat. "Oh, yes! Thank you, Mommy!"
"While we're there, can I get my second hole?" Emma asked. "Olivia got her second hole."
Even in difficult times, there were limitations, though it was good the girls were distracted. "No, Emma. No more piercings."
Emma pouted. Rachel had to think fast. "I'll buy you whatever you want at the mall."
"I guess that's fair," Emma sighed.
"It is," Rachel said as she heard her phone ring. She looked and saw that her Dad was calling, but decided not to answer. This was a day for her and her daughters.
x
Finn drove to Akron with Ryan sitting in front next to him. "Excited for your game today?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, soccer is so much fun," Ryan said. "I don't know if you know because you missed my last three games because you were with Jack, but we're undefeated."
Finn felt a sting of guilt. Emma and Sarah had gone to all three of those games with friends, but Finn felt so guilty that he and Rachel were constantly missing their son's games.
"You're so proud of me you don't know what to say, right Dad?"
Finn smiled at his son. "That's right."
"And in today's game, I'm going to score a goal," Ryan said. "Then I'll point to you in the stands so everyone there knows you're my dad. When I scored a goal in the last game, I pointed at Emma and Sarah in the stands."
Like father, like son. Finn always used to point to Rachel in the stands when he scored points in football, basketball and baseball games.
Finn's phone went off. He saw that it was Rachel's dad Hiram calling, but decided not to answer. Today was about Ryan, not Jack.
x
"Which starter set do you want?" the clerk at Claire's asked Sarah, handing her the board with all their starter sets options for earrings.
Sarah turned to Rachel. "I have to go to the bathroom."
Rachel recognized this from when she felt nervous right before getting her ears pierced. She knew Sarah was chickening out, but would regret it if she ended up not going through with it. "Then let's hurry up and get this done so you don't wet your pants," Rachel said.
"How about you get your birthstone? That's what I did," Emma said.
Sarah looked. "Yeah, it's pretty."
Rachel held one of Sarah's hands and Emma held the other at the earrings were shot in with a piercing gun. As soon as they were done, Rachel brought back Sarah's cold feet excuse. "Okay Sarah, let's go to the bathroom now."
"Oh, I don't have to go now," Sarah said. "Take my picture Mommy. On your phone, so we can send it to Uncle Kurt and Aunt Quinn."
Rachel took one of just Sarah and then one of both girls and sent the pictures to Kurt and Quinn. As soon as she sent the pictures, her phone rang again, this time from her other dad. Rachel sighed and turned off the phone. Today was her day off from the hospital.
x
"Ryan Hudson scores another goal. Cleveland Heights leads, 4-1."
Finn cheered as Ryan scored another goal. Ryan stayed true to his word and pointed at Finn in the stands. Finn smiled with pride. His son was such a great player and was also clearly a leader on the team.
"So you're Ryan Hudson's dad?" the dad next to Finn asked.
Finn smiled and nodded. "He's mine."
"Ryan has a good kick," the man continued. He's got lots of potential, I can see him becoming the star of the team, but he seems to have his head in the sky rather than the game at times. It takes a lot for my son to say this, but he thinks Ryan's as good a player as he is."
Finn smiled. "Thanks." He did feel a twinge of guilt about Ryan being unfocused at times, but this guy didn't know their family situation.
Finn felt his phone vibrate and looked down. It was Rachel's dad Leroy. Finn felt like he should answer, but let the call go to voicemail before turning off the phone. Too many times lately, he compromised the emotional needs of his older kids for the physical needs of Jack.
x
Rachel, Emma and Sarah were arriving back at the hospital to meet up with Finn and Ryan. The stop at Claire's had only been the beginning of their fun afternoon at the mall. Rachel had totally splurged, buying her daughters new clothes, accessories, toys and books, even took them out to ice cream. Today, they had been a typical mother and two daughters. Had they not had to drive back to the hospital, Rachel easily could have forgotten.
Rachel, Emma and Sarah walked into the lobby to see Finn and Ryan (who was still in his soccer uniform).
"I got my ears pierced!" Sarah shouted, pointing at her earrings and running up to her father and brother.
"They look very nice," Finn said.
"Whatever," Ryan mumbled.
Emma rolled her eyes. "You are such a boy."
"How was the game?" Rachel asked Finn.
"It went well," Finn replied. "They won 5-2 and he scored two goals."
"That's good," Rachel said. "I need to get to one of his games."
"Maybe next weekend you can go to his game and I can do something with Emma and Sarah. Nothing too girly though."
Rachel stood on her tiptoes to kiss Finn. "Sounds good to me."
Finn, Rachel, Ryan, Emma and Sarah got on the elevator to the pediatric oncology ward. A they got off the elevator, Rachel's dads ran up to them.
"Why the hell were you not answering your phones this afternoon?" Leroy shouted as other people in the waiting room looked over. "Your son has cancer and you're ignoring calls from the hospital? What is wrong with you two? What kind of parents are you?"
Rachel couldn't believe what her dad was saying to her. "We have three other children and needed to spend time with them."
"Did you seriously just say that?" Leroy shouted. "Jack's sick. These three should come second -"
At this point Rachel was too angry to speak. She could tell Ryan, Emma and Sarah were hurt by their grandfather's words. Luckily, Finn took over. "Hiram, Leroy, let me explain. Rachel and I worry that we may be neglecting our other kids, and we want them to know we still love them, so we decided to make today focused on them -"
"Stop right there, Finn!" Hiram shouted. Now Rachel had had enough. For her fathers to yell at her was one thing, for them to yell at Finn was another.
"The doctor wants to see you two. Immediately. You may have spent today with your three healthy children but you still do have a son with cancer and his doctor wants to see you."
Rachel's heart skipped a beat. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have taken the other kids out today. This couldn't be good news.
"Will you two please watch these three?" Rachel asked her dads. "Finn and I will go talk to the doctors."
"We will," Hiram said right before Finn and Rachel went into Jack's room. Jack was sleeping, but two of his doctors were standing there. "Mr. and Mrs. Hudson, I thought you might be here sooner," the doctor said.
Rachel looked down in shame. "I'm sorry. We were just spending time with our other kids today. It feels like we don't really get to anymore, almost as if we've forgotten them. We turned off our phones so today they wouldn't be overshadowed by Jack's medical problems."
The doctor smiled at Finn and Rachel. "At least you two make an effort to spend time with your other children. Some parents completely let the news about the cancer take over. But it probably wasn't a good idea to turn off your phones, especially today."
"What happened?" Finn asked.
"Well, we've been collecting samples of Jack's blood and x rays after each round of chemo," the doctor said. "His cancer hasn't been progressing, but it hasn't been going away, either. We're beginning to think chemo may be ineffective."
Rachel grabbed Finn's hand, her eyes filling with tears.
"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson," the doctor continued. "There's one more thing we can try but I don't know if it will work. You may want to start preparing yourselves for the loss of your son."
"No! He's not going to die!" Rachel said as tears fell. Jack couldn't die. He couldn't.
"What can we try?" Finn said."The only hope for your son, the only possible hope, is a bone marrow transplant. You two can be tested to see if you're a match, your other three children can, but I don't know if it can work."
"We've got to try it," Finn said.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to save Jack," Rachel said, staring at her son sleeping on his bed.