Unforgettable Nights, Unforgivable Mistakes

Chapter 8: Worst Fear Becomes Reality

Emily was sitting at the bed in the emergency room where Bay was now sleeping peacefully. The school had rushed her there that morning because Bay had fallen at school, and the administrators hadn't been able to immediately reach either Max or Emily at their work numbers. At first, the teachers thought it was a minor cut, but when they were unable to stop the bleeding, they rushed the little girl to the hospital, where she had received a couple of stitches. The cut was on her head back from her hairline with her hair covering it. The doctors had assured Emily there would not be any visible scars on Bay's head and she would recover soon. However, they had kept Bay in the hospital under observation for other reasons. Bay had lost a large amount of blood from the small cut, and because they had not been able to stop the bleeding for a very long time. For a toddler, it was an especially large amount of blood, and they had to do an emergency blood transfusion to get her blood platelets to the proper level. The doctors wanted to keep Bay for a few nights to monitor her, because the nurses kept noticing a small amount of blood leaking from the area they had stitched in her head. This became a grave concern for the doctors because the wound didn't seem to be healing properly and continued to slowly leak.

In addition to the head wound leaking blood, the bruises Emily had found on Bay's knees and legs had raised concerns for the pediatricians. At first, they had investigated the parents...they didn't want to make any assumptions, but it was their job to rule out any child abuse. Emily was furious! At first, how could they even think she and Max would abuse their daughter, but as law enforcement officers, she understood where they were coming from. Once they had learned Emily was the leader of the London Interpol Gateway Office, they ruled out that possibility and even apologized to the her and Max.

But, the doctors were still concerned about several symptoms that Bay had exhibited... when the pediatrician came to talk with Bay about how she had fallen, Bay told the doctor she had felt dizzy and lost her balance on the playground, and this gave the doctors their gravest concern. It was then that the doctors realized they might be dealing with something other than a minor cut on a playground, and now they were running blood tests on Bay, along with some other tests they needed before they could come to a complete diagnosis. The doctors didn't want to give Emily and Max an update until the test results were completed. Dr. Morrison had been a pediatrician for many years, and he had seen other children with the same symptoms, so he was almost certain of what was going on with Bay, but he had to be completely sure of this diagnosis before he said anything to the parents. Meanwhile, he had also ordered blood tests for Emily and Max; he wanted to see whose blood was compatible with Bay's in case she needed another blood transfusion, or any other pathological test where they needed comparison blood. Dr. Morrison knew that if his suspicions were correct, the parents would also need to do more for their daughter than a simple blood transfusion, so it was important for him to find out who had more compatibility with Bay.

Emily ran her hand through her daughter's curly hair and watched her as she slept. She couldn't stop the tears that were running down her cheeks; the worst nightmare a mother could experience was having her child ill. Emily was extremely worried; they had been there for a long time and the longer they waited, the more worried she became. There was something else going on with her daughter, and Emily knew in her heart the doctors didn't want to tell her what their suspicions were...she could feel it, she had heard the doctors whispering, and it made her even more concerned. They had already tried to accuse them of abusing Bay, which made her even sadder. She would never hurt her daughter, and she knew Max would never hurt her either. If anything, they probably spoiled Bay more than any other couple she had ever met. Of course, she also knew Bay needed discipline even when she was a toddler, and sometimes Bay could really throw a tantrum, but nothing a couple of soft smacks on the bottom and a few hours without playing with toys would not fix...other than that, she had never laid a hand on Bay, still... she understood the doctor's point of view.

Now, the only thing that mattered to Emily was to find out what was going on with her daughter, and why the doctors had ordered so many more tests; she just wanted to take her baby girl home and never let her out of her sight. She was also very nervous because they were waiting on the blood test results for her and Max to see who was more compatible with Bay, and for some reason, that scared the hell out of Emily. She felt something in her stomach, and she wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it wasn't a good thing. She spent the next few hours sitting on the bed next to her daughter...she didn't want to leave her side until they found out what the test results were.

"You should go eat something, Em." Clyde said softly, walking inside the room.

"I'm not hungry, and I'm not moving from her side." Emily said in a dry voice.

Clyde came behind her and placed his arm around her shoulders; he knew how hard this was for her, hell, this was even hard for him because Bay was his goddaughter and he loved her dearly, and it pained him to see her little body in a hospital bed, especially when they didn't know what was going on with her.

"You need to take care of yourself, if you want to be strong enough to take care of her." Clyde said, pulling her into his arms.

"Where's Max?" Emily asked, avoiding his statement.

"He went to get you tea and something light to eat." Clyde said smiling.

Emily gave him a watery smile, and Clyde pulled her to him for a hug.

"Everything is going to be okay, darling." He said soothingly.

"I'm scared, Clyde, I know there is something going on, I can feel it, and the doctors won't come and tell us. Why won't they come?" She stated, as tears rolled down her face. Clyde could see that she was fighting so hard to keep from falling apart and crumbling in his arms. The strong woman that he had known for decades, that had only once in her life cried...when her father died...and that didn't take shit from anyone, that strong woman that did not bend for anything at all was here fighting the urge to break down completely as she watched her daughter sleep in a hospital bed.

"They'll come, Em, try to stay calm." He said, hugging her tightly, even though he himself was very worried about their little girl.

After several hours that seemed like an eternity, Dr. Morrison finally came to talk to the couple. They were all gathered in Bay's room when the doctor walked in.

"Sorry about the wait, Mrs and Mr Olsen." The doctor said quietly and from the look on his face, Emily immediately knew whatever he was about to say was definitely bad news...she could see it in his eyes.

"What's going on with my daughter, please just tell us!" Emily said, a little bit more rudely than she had intended to.

"Please sit down so we can talk." He offered politely.

"I don't want to sit, just tell us what the results of the tests are!" Emily said, beginning to get upset.

"As you know, we have run several more tests on Bay because of her continuing bleeding. We ran a CBC, which is a complete blood count...this test showed an abnormality in her blood platelets, meaning her blood has a greater percentage of white blood cells than compared to the percentage of red blood cells." Dr. Morrison tried to explain this to the couple as gently as he could. We also ran a Chem-20 panel which looks at 20 different things in the blood and helps us check for other factors in Bay's body.

"What does this mean?" Max asked anxiously.

'There's a possibility Bay may suffer from Leukemia." Dr. Morrison finally said, making both parents gasp as they realized they were hearing the words spoken about their precious daughter, and they were immediately plummeted into the worst nightmare a parent could ever have.

"Oh my God!" Emily covered her mouth in shock. Max was frozen in shock, too, not being able to react or respond. Clyde, too, stood there not knowing what to say or do.

"This is not possible, she is a healthy child, she was fine this morning." Max finally said, as tears rolled down his face, holding onto his wife who was also awash in tears.

"No...No...this has to be wrong, you have to be mistaken, she can't be sick, my baby can't be sick." Emily screamed, crying.

I'm very sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Olsen. Dr. Nicolletti will be a few minutes to talk with you more about Bay's case. Dr Nicolleti is the pediatric oncologist." Dr. Morrison said quietly.

"We just want you to know that we're here for you and your daughter for whatever you need, this is one of the best hospital in the country...your daughter is on good hands..."-Dr Morrison said finally walking out of the room and leaving them deal with their heartache.

"This can't be happening to us, Max...please tell me this is a dream." Emily begged, holding onto Max and crying heavily.

"We'll get through this, Emily, don't worry, sweetheart...whatever it takes, we'll make sure she's fine and that she gets the best care she needs." Max reassured Emily.

Clyde just walked towards Bay running his thumbs over her sweet, innocent sleeping face. This couldn't be possible, he couldn't bear the pain that his best friend was going through. He simply couldn't understand how it was possible that such a sweet, innocent child could be sick with a terminal illness. He couldn't understand how something like this could happen to such a great and amazing couple. The truth was everyone was devastated by the news. Max walked out of the room to make a few calls and to get some air. Emily hadn't moved from Bay's side, as silent tears rolled down her cheeks; Clyde couldn't stop himself and walked toward her pulling her into his arms. Emily immediately crumbled and broke down completely in his arms, sobbing and crying heavily.

"I can't lose her, Clyde, she's my baby, I can't do this." Emily sobbed.

"Shhhhhhh, Em, you have to be strong, we'll see the best doctors, no matter what we have to do we will save her...I promise you that..."-he said soothingly.

Emily didn't answer she just keep crying in his arms. Clyde and Max stood by Emily's side all night. They tried to reassure her that everything was going to be fine, and they explained to her that they would take Bay to the best doctors in the country. Both men adored Bay, and they would do anything for her, and to make sure Bay and Emily were only given the best of care.

The next morning, a very nice white haired grandpa kind of looking guy walked into the room. He had the kindest smile and brightest blue eyes.

Good Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Olsen, I'm Doctor Paul Nicolleti, and I'm the Chief of Pediatric Oncology. I'll be in charge of your daughter, Bay's, care." He said, with a very soft, calming voice.

Emily and Max just nodded...they were both exhausted, and they had no energy for words. They had been there all night.

"Would you guys like to come into my office so we can discuss further the situation with your daughter, Bay?" He offered. Emily turned to look at Bay, who was still sleeping...she didn't want to leave her daughter.

"Go Em, I'll stay with her, don't worry." Clyde offered.

Emily smiled sadly, and they both followed Dr Nicolleti to his office. When they walked inside, a small smile escaped Emily's lips. His office looked like a kid's room or a small toy store. It was painted in soft blue colors, and there was a small bed in the shape of a dinosaur for kids Emily assumed and everything in there was made for a kid, from the phone to the lamp on his desk. He offered Emily and Max a seat, and Dr. Nicolleti proceeded to pull out a file from his desk.

"First of all, I'm very sorry that we're meeting under these circumstances, but I can assure you that your daughter, Bay, is in excellent hands, and we'll do everything in our power to help her overcome this." Dr. Nicolleti offered sweetly.

Emily couldn't stop the small tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Thank you very much." Max said, since Emily couldn't speak.

"Do you know what Leukemia is?" He asked sweetly

"I know some of it but not in detail." Emily finally said in a dry voice.

"Leukemia is a cancer that starts in early blood-forming cells found in a person's bone marrow, the soft inner part of certain bones. Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some leukemias start in other blood cell types." Dr Nicolleti said, showing them a few pictures in a book.

"But, how did our daughter get this?" Max asked, unsure.

We're not certain. Cancers can be caused by DNA mutations, or other types of changes in a person's body that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes. These gene changes can be inherited from a parent, as is sometimes the case with childhood leukemias, or they may happen randomly during a person's lifetime if cells in the body make mistakes as they divide to make new cells." Dr Nicoletti explained.

"So, you're saying one of us passed this to Bay?" Max asked, in shock.

"Not necessarily, Mr Olsen, as I explained, it could be genetic, if someone in your family ever suffered from cancer."

"Is there any history of cancer in your family?" Dr Nicolleti asked.

"No, not that I know of." They both answered.

"Certain inherited diseases can increase the risk of developing leukemia, but most childhood leukemias do not seem to be caused by inherited mutations. Usually, DNA mutations related to leukemia develop after conception rather than having been inherited." Dr Nicolleti said.

Emily nodded, unable to take anymore, tears started rolling down her cheeks, and her husband pulled her into his arms.

"Dr. Nicolleti, what choices do we have, I want to do anything that will save Bay's life, no matter what that is." Max pointed out.

"There are several options, the most effective one being chemotherapy."

"But, but, she's only three, can she go through that?" Emily asked in a shaky voice.

"We have several options, but that is where we have to start." He pulled out a few brochures from his desk.

"We might also need several blood transfusions, and stem cell transplants." Dr. Nicolleti continued.

"We want the best treatments possible for our daughter, no matter what the price is." Emily said.

This is a great hospital. There are some equally good if not better treatments in other countries if you want to consider relocating. There is a great hospital in Boston called Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders, and there is also Children's National Medical Center in Washington, but those might be difficult for you guys considering you live here." That caught Emily's attention...a hospital in Washington...was this fate or what?

"I used to live in Washington...we could consider relocating." Emily said, without hesitation

"It is one of the best hospitals in the country, but I will give you time to think about it."

"I also have the results here of your blood tests...here." Dr Nicolleti said, pulling out both parents' tests.

"Mrs. Olsen, while there are similarities between your blood cells and Bay's blood type, with the illness she has, we prefer to not use you as a donor."

'Why not, I am her mother, I want her to have my blood!" Emily snapped.

"Parental blood transfusion isn't necessarily always recommended, e especially when there is an illness." The doctor smiled softly trying to make Emily feel less useless in her daughter's illness.

"What about mine, can we use mine?" Max said

"Actually, your blood has no genetic connection to Bay whatsoever, so your blood may be the best match to use for Bay."

However, with those words, Emily's ears began ringing, and she felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped on her head...she couldn't think nor could she breathe. She could feel the intense gaze her husband was sending her way.