Chapter 3: Hope

Author: zeusfluff.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blue Bloods characters. They belong to CBS. But I do own a few originals. Date Started: 7/20/23. Date Finished: 7/21/23.

Hope. It's what Eddie had now. Jamie squeezed her hand as they made their way into Frank and Henry's house for Sunday dinner.

"We've got this babe. Go in there and be the Eddie I fell in love with. We'll break it to them gently."

Eddie nodded and let a deep breath out as they entered the house. Jamie spoke loudly as they entered the dining room.

"Hey everybody! We're here!"

Eddie leaned in and whispered into Jamie's ear.

"I feel like I'm waddling."

Jamie pressed a kiss to her forehead whispering back.

"You are not waddling. Relax."

Eddie felt self-conscious. Sitting down at the table, Jamie pushed Eddie's chair in and sat down himself. After the prayer was said and everyone had food on their plates, Henry decided to start the conversation.

"So Jamie, how come you and Eddie have missed the last 9 Sunday dinners?"

Jamie squeezed Eddie's free hand under the table.

"Pop, Eddie and I have something to tell everyone."

Eddie picked at her food and then looked at everyone at the table.

"The reason why Jamie and I missed the last 9 Sunday dinners is because I found out that I have Stage 5 kidney disease. End Stage. I've been doing dialysis for the last couple of weeks."

Everyone was silent for a couple of minutes. Linda was the first to speak.

"That's the reason why I asked that we don't put salt on the meat."

Jamie spoke up next.

"On Wednesday last week I got tested to see if I was a match. Got the test results back yesterday. I'm not a match. Wrong blood type. She's A negative. I'm AB positive. She needs someone who is the same blood type as hers or a universal donor."

Nicky took this moment to speak up.

"I think we should all get tested. I mean that's what family does right? Help each other out in a time of need? Aunt Eddie needs our help."

Everyone nodded and Jamie squeezed Eddie's hand, and then rubbed her arm. Frank gave a nod to the couple and spoke.

"Eddie I'm sorry your going through all this, but we're there for you. All of us. Do you need one of us to take you to the hospital for your treatment?"

Eddie shook her head and put her fork down on her empty plate. Pushing both of her sleeves back, she showed everyone her forearms.

"I'm not on hemo."

Erin furrowed her eyebrows.

"There's more than one type of dialysis?"

Jamie nodded spoke up as he began to clear the table.

"Yes and we'll explain that in the sunroom. Not at the table."

Once the table was cleared and the dishes washed, everyone gathered in the sunroom each taking a seat. Eddie shifted uncomfortably as Jamie began to explain.

"Hemodialysis is only done in hospital and three times a week. Usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You sit connected to a machine that takes all your blood out of your body, washes it and puts it back in. You sit in a room with a bunch of other people for 8 hours a day. Eddie and I decided together to go a different route. The type of Dialysis Eddie is on is called Peritoneal Dialysis. She has a catheter placed in a large empty space between the small intestine and the bladder. The medication she is one is a mixture of saline and dextrose. Sugar. The dextrose pulls all of the waste that builds up that her kidneys can't filter out any more out of her body. Since there is sugar in the solution, we have to watch her blood sugar. She has a chance of developing diabetes with this medication. So we have to be mindful of what she eats. We had the option of having it done in hospital or at home. We chose at home so we could do it on our schedule. She has to put more of the solution in every four to six hours and drain out the old fluid. It's been a challenge. About the fifth day, she didn't break the seal on the bag completely and she ended up getting air into the line. We were on the phone with her nurse for about an hour having her walk us through what we needed to do."

Erin's eyes widened as she looked at Eddie.

"Did you have to go to the hospital?"

Eddie shook her head no.

"No. I had to lie on my back on the floor with my legs on a box just above my heart. For about an hour. I haven't done it since then."

Eddie looked at Jamie and he squeezed her forearm, nodding. She lifted her shirt slightly and showed them the large white bandage on her left side just below her stomach. She continued her conversation.

"This is what's keeping me alive right now until I get a new kidney."

Nicky winced and looked Eddie in the eye. Eddie put her shirt back down.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

Eddie realized that Nicky was asking about the catheter under the bandage, but her swollen stomach as well. Sighing, Eddie shook her head no.

"The first few days after they put this catheter in it hurt. But not anymore. Sometimes its uncomfortable, but I have to make sure I don't put too much solution in. If I did, I could get an umbilical hernia. The upside to this: I can eat a 20-ounce steak and it wouldn't affect me much. Only because the downside is I lose about half that protein when the solution cleans out the waste."

Eddie locked eyes with Jamie who was trying not to wince at the last part of her sentence. The family talked for a while and reassured Eddie that they were there to support her through everything she was going through. The way home was quiet, Eddie had fallen asleep with her head against the window. Every now and then Jamie would glance at Eddie and rub a hand over her cheek. She was starting to sleep a lot more now. Jamie was now in the parking garage at their apartment building, and he turned off the car. After taking his seatbelt off, he reached over and undid Eddie's. She was none the wiser and kept sleeping. Leaning towards her, he placed a warm kiss to her neck. This made her open her eyes slowly. She answered, her voice low and gravelly from being asleep.

"Hi babe. Are we home?"

Jamie nodded and opened up his door.

"Yeah babe we are. Here. I'll help you out. Your feet must be killing you by now."

Eddie nodded and sat up, watching Jamie close the driver's side door and coming over to her side, opening it. Helping her to her feet, Eddie winced.

"Ugh. My feet probably look like a couple of chuck roasts."

When the couple reached their apartment, Eddie doubled over in pain as Jamie put his coat on the rack by the door.

"Ouch! Son of a bitch that hurts!"

Jamie took one long stride towards her.

"Hey. Eddie look at me babe. What hurts?"

Eddie managed to make her way over to the couch and slowly sat down. Jamie took a seat next to her as she lifted her shirt up. She groaned and let her head fall back against the couch.

"Ow…"

Jamie could see tears in her eyes. His eyes found the source of her pain. He gently ran a finger over the tender spot where her belly button was.

"Babe. This isn't fluid buildup to cause this umbilical hernia, you ate too much. Let's sit here for a little bit and see if it reduces itself. If it doesn't lets try draining the fluid. As a last resort we go to the hospital and they reduce it for you."

Eddie shook her head no.

"I think I'll wait it out. I spend too much time in and out of the hospital as it is. How much do we owe the hospital Jamie?"

Jamie squeezed her hand with his left and his right rubbed her belly.

"Don't worry about that. Medicare has got that covered. The insurance covers the rest."

Eddie nodded and leaned back against the couch with her feet propped up on a stool. Jamie got up from the couch and knelt down in front of Eddie. He started to massage her aching right foot.

"Is this what it'll be like down the road when I get pregnant with your kid?"

Eddie hadn't mean for it to sound like an accusation, it just came out that way.

"You mean with our kid babe? Pretty much. But your belly would be twice as big and you'd have little feet kicking against you."

Eddie gave a smirk and cracked open her eyes, watching Jamie work his way up to her calf.

"Yeah well I already have something inside me that feels like a foot kicking me all the time. The other end of my catheter has tiny pin holes in it to collect the fluid. It curls in as the solution goes in and when it comes out it uncurls. Sometimes I feel it more depending on how fast the solution is going in or coming out."

Jamie sighed and continued to massage her right calf.

"I can make you feel better. We may no be able to be completely intimate with one another for now, but there is another way…"

Eddie tried to swat his arm with her right hand.

"Jamie Reagan!"

Jamie only gave a laugh and continued massaging her calf.

"What? I just want my wife to be comfortable."

Eddie closed her eyes and sighed, the area around her belly button didn't hurt anymore. Maybe it had fixed itself.

To Be Continued…

A/N: So, what'd you guys think? I tried to make a little happier with some Jamko banter at the end of the chapter. Let me know! Thanks!