I own nothing from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Zack couldn't believe what he had just been told, couldn't believe the unbearable position he had been unwillingly thrust into. Zack stood at a fork in the road, with the lives of the two people he loved most in the world potentially lying at the end of either fork, but there was no way he could save both, no fully happy ending was possible. Zack just sat in the hallway of New York General Hospital, high above the busy Manhattan streets below, he couldn't think of anything but the decision he had to make. In the Intensive Care Unit lay his twin brother and best friend Cody who was inches from death, with Zack's kidney being the only thing which could save him. In another room of the same ICU however lay Zack's true love, the woman he had let go, and now she was so close to being gone he realised how much he needed her, Madeline Fitzpatrick, her body battered and bruised from the car accident of the previous morning, it seemed like an age ago to Zack. Both Maddie and Cody needed Kidneys and Zack was a match to both of them, Zack understandably felt like god was playing some horrible joke on him, making him a match for both, machining him make such a heart wrenchingly horrible decision.
Zack didn't want to think about what would happen to the soul he neglected, he wanted to focus on the positive outcome for one, but he found it impossible to think of the positives on one hand without thinking of the negatives for the other, it was simply impossible. Zack's response to date was purely a devastated emotional response based purely upon what Mr. Moesby had said; it dawned on him in a small part of his brain that he didn't know the full story, and that maybe it would be helpful in his decision making to consult with Maddie's doctor, to confirm what had happened. Zack wanted to talk to someone about what was going on, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to Carey and Kurt about it, he knew they would not entertain a circumstance in which Cody's life was sacrificed; it was forgivable though Zack thought that they cared more about Cody than Maddie, but Zack was torn in the middle.
Zack made the harrowing walk back into the ICU but instead of going to Cody's room to talk to his parents, or going to attempt to reason access with Mrs. Fitzpatrick, he went to the nurses' station
"Hello, I'm Madeline Fitzpatrick's husband, I would like to speak to her doctor urgently please" He asked the nurse.
"Certainly Sir, Just wait in the conference room and I'll page him up immediately"
Zack silently nodded in thanks and entered the modern furnished conference room. The room was against one edge of the giant building and had one wall made completely of glass giving a breathtaking look down across Manhattan, but the splendour of the view was lost on Zack at that moment, he was lost in his confusion.
"Hello Mr. Martin" he hear a few minutes after when Maddie's concerned and withdrawn looking doctor entered the room
"Hello Doctor" Zack replied in a depressed voice "Is it true?" He continued, hoping in part that Moesby was playing some horrifically cruel joke on him, but he doubted it
"Is what true?" the doctor replied puzzled
"That Maddie can be saved if she has my kidney?" Zack asked
"Yes, but her chances are still very slim, I wouldn't recommend it, but yes, she could recover with a new kidney, and yes you are a match" The doctors words were a spike through Zack's heart, and it showed on his face
"What's wrong, I thought this news would be pleasing" The doctor replied a little puzzled
"My brother needs a Kidney as well...we're identical twins" Zack replied quietly
"Oh" The doctor replied, obviously realising Zack's horrible dilemma. "Well, if there is a better chance you're brother will survive and recover to a full level then medically I would say you should donate to him, with Madeline's head injuries there is a looming prospect of permanent brain damage, we will try to source another transplant for Madeline, but in her condition she is not an high priority candidate I must sadly say" the doctor continued, in an odd way it made things easier on Zack, it was a logical way to deal with the situation, it was how Cody would have dealt with it.
"Thanks doctor, I think I need some time alone to think about this" Zack replied
"Certainly" The doctor said before warmly shaking Zack's hand and leaving.
"Nurse, do you know where a Zack Martin is?" Marion Moesby asked as he arrived at the ICU, realising Zack was probably on his own thinking about things
"Ms. Fitzpatrick's husband?" the nurse asked
"Yes"
"He's in the conference room" the nurse directed Moesby into the room.
"Hello Zack, I'm so sorry about all this" Moesby said as he encountered Zack sitting on a couch staring out the window.
"So am I, I've never felt this bad before in my life, I don't know what to do, no matter what one of the two people I care most about in the world is going to die" Zack began to tear up as he spoke
"I can't begin to imagine how you must be feeling Zack; I just thought you had a right to know everything" Moesby spoke
"Yes, thank you for that, I've spoken to Maddie's doctor, I was told that she is unlikely to get a transplant from someone else...but I've also been told it's not likely she'll fully recover to her former self, it's possible she'll have brain damage, or that she'll die in the surgery" Zack sobbed out
"Yes, I've heard that too, are Cody's chances much better?" Moesby asked hopefully
"They are better, but there are no guarantees he'll survive the surgery either..." Zack trailed off toward the end
"Well Zack, at the end of the day, it's your decision to make, would you like me to do anything for you?" Moesby asked in the comforting voice he had become so accustomed to using around the Martin family.
"Get my parents for me please, they're with Cody" Zack asked and Mosby delivered, returning with Carey and Kurt not long after leaving.
"What's wrong honey?" Carey asked immediately after seeing Zack's expression and her maternal instincts sensed something other than Cody was on his mind
"Mom, Maddie needs a Kidney too...and I'm a match" Zack quietly said, Kurt just looked stunned but Carey's reaction was far from helpful
"And you're considering giving it to her!" She basically spat "And leaving Cody to die!" she continued icily Zack burst into tears at her reaction
"I don't know" he wailed "How can I let her die...how can I let Cody die" his pain was so obvious and enormous. "I don't know what to do mommy, please help me" he cried
"I'm sorry honey" Carey reacted to Zack's emotional decline "I just want Cody to be alright so badly...I really think you should give him your Kidney Zack, he is your brother, please Zack, I don't know how I could handle loosing him" Carey began to weep, Moesby initially went to hug her but was beaten to the punch by Kurt, and shot him a dirty look without anyone noticing.
"Would you support me if I chose Maddie?" Zack asked
"Honestly Zack...no, I don't think I could sign off on it...it would be like signing a death sentence for Cody...please tell me you're not considering that?" Carey replied shocked at the whole notion of Zack choosing Maddie's life of Cody's.
"I don't think so...I've spoken to her doctors and everything...Cody is more likely to survive" Zack sobbed through his words "But I don't know how I can let go of her..." Zack was openly crying now and Carey grabbed his hands
"I don't know how you will Zack...but you have to, we all have to let go of someone we love sometime, this is the hardest decision you'll ever have to make but I think it's the right one" Carey's words were greatly comforting to Zack, as was her grip.
"Ok, I've made my mind up" Zack said after a long pause "I'm going to save my brother...Marion, can you come with me to see Maddie's family...I want to see if they'll let me say goodbye" Zack said
"Sure" Moesby replied. Carey and Kurt went back to Cody's side, happy that Zack was going ahead with the plans to save him, and Moesby and Zack headed toward Maddie's room for the hardest thing Zack would ever have to do.
"Mrs. Fitzpatrick" Zack began as he saw her as he opened the door of Maddie's room, Moesby in toe "I've come to see Maddie, there's some thing's I need to say" Zack continued
"Have you come to tell us you're going to give us your Kidney" she said coldly
"No...Cody need's my Kidney...I'm giving it to him" Zack tired to stay strong as he caught sight of Maddie lying in the bed surrounded by Fitzpatricks
"WHAT!" Maddie's family roared collectively "You're going to save the bastard who did this to our Maddie" Mrs Fitzpatrick shouted, she was clearly the family spokesperson and had accurately summarised the feelings of the room
"He's my brother" Zack teared up; Moesby put his hand on Zack's shoulder in a show of support.
"He's a murderer...and as far as we're concerned, so are you" Mrs. Fitzpatrick shot back at Zack as the rest of the family glared. "And as far as getting to see my daughter, the restraining order I got against you keeps you from her" Mrs. Fitzpatrick and a look of almost glee on her face as she proclaimed that Zack could not see Maddie
"And what restrain order would that be?" A man said as he walked toward the altercation
"Who the hell are you?" She asked bitterly in her thick Bostonian accent
"This is my Attorney, Mr. Jackson" Zack managed a smile as he cut in
"Yes, and a judge just cancelled your order, you cannot keep my client from his wife, now I have to ask you all to give him the room he wants" Mr. Jackson continued, the look of glee was well and truly wiped off the Fitzpatrick faces as they recognised that they were beat and left the room giving Zack some time alone.
Zack sat down next to his love and began the hardest thing he had ever done
"Maddie, I don't know if you are really there, or if you can hear me, but if you can hear me from somewhere I have something to say to you" He began, holding her hand tightly as he spoke, looking at her broken and bandaged but still beautiful face. "I love you Maddie, I will always love you, from now until eternity and some day we will be together again, I promise. I'm sorry I broke up with you Maddie, I had wanted you for so long, but then when it wasn't exactly as I imaged I wasn't willing to work, and now that I've lost you forever I realised what I loved so much about you" Zack began to cry as he spoke, rubbing the tears from his eyes he continued speaking. "I know you need my Kidney Maddie, but Cody needs it too, and I know you understand the connecting me and Cody have and why I have to save him...even if it means losing you forever, I just hope you can forgive me, please Maddie, please be able to forgive me, this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, it is so hard." Zack was in a mess of emotion barely able to speak, but still desperately wanting to say everything he needed to say. "I love you Madeline Fitzpatrick, I made you my wife that wonderful weekend in L as Vegas, and I meant it, even if we joked about it, god I meant it and for the rest of my life not showing it more will be my greatest regret. Please Maddie, forgive me for abandoning you in this hour, and know that I have done it only out of love for Cody, and a desire to not condemn you to an imperfect life lower than what you deserve. Forgive me, and forgive Cody for the crash, you know he did not mean it. I Love you Maddie, and I will always love you until the end of time" Zack had barely been able to speak the last few lines of his speech from the heart through his tears.
Zack kissed Maddie on her sweet lips and memories of all their good times came flooding back, making Zack feel warm through all his despair.
"Goodbye Maddie, My love" He said quietly as he left the room.
And again I've made myself cry almost writing Zack's speech. Please tell me what you thought of it, and thank you to EVERY SINGLE PERSON who has ever reviewed one of my stories you have no idea how much it means to me and how much it motivates me to keep writing.
Stick with it guys!.