Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
S arah could tell from the look on her mother’s face, that the decision to share Emily’s health condition was a difficult one. She knew that her mother wanted the best outcome for Emily, but also knew that she couldn’t do that without revisiting her deceased husband’s infidelity.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. We all love Emily and welcomed her into the family with open arms, but I guess you’ll always be confronted with how she came into the world.”
Maggie hugged her and tried to appear upbeat.
“Oh, I guess it’s not that bad. You’re right, Emily is a lovely young woman, and I’m sure your father would be proud of her, and maybe even happy that she reached out to us.”
“Have you heard from Beth yet?” Sarah asked.
Maggie shook her head. “No, but I expect her to text or call any minute.”
“Let’s go into the office and use the iMac. That way, you’ll have a better view of everyone on the screen. I think we should try to involve Beth. I don’t care if she is in bed. This has to be handled and we all need to be on this call. I’ll set it up.”
Maggie’s phone rang, and it was Beth.
“Hey Beth.”
“Mom, what’s going on? I just woke up and saw your text.”
“Lots going on, honey. Sarah is with me. We’re going to have a Zoom video with everyone so we can all hear what’s happening. Why don’t you hang up, and we’ll send you a link as soon as Sarah gets it set up?”
“Okay, I’ll be waiting.”
“I’ve got everyone already set up in a group from the last time we videoed. They should all get a link any minute.”
Maggie waited patiently for her children to get on video. Michael was the first. “Hey Mom, I’m here.”
“Hi sweetie. It’s so good to see your handsome face.”
Christopher and Lauren came online next with Beth following.
“Hey, everyone. I’m so sorry to scare you all, which I’m sure I did. It’s just that I got an email from your sister Emily’s mother. It seems Emily is in the hospital and needs a kidney transplant. It’s very serious. She has an illness called Lupus nephritis which has damaged her kidneys. They are desperately looking for a match, which I guess can take a long time. There is a better chance for a match within the family. Her mother is not a match.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment, until Beth said what they were all thinking.
“That means us. Dad is gone, so he can’t test. That just leaves us...right?”
Maggie nodded. “Well, yes I believe so. My understanding is that Emily’s mother has exhausted every other possibility within her side of the family. If there is a familial match, it likely will come from one of you.”
“Poor Emily,” Beth said. “I thought something was up with her, because she stopped texting and emailing me. I think she felt the closest to me, so we’ve stayed in touch. At least we did for a while.”
Michael’s wife, Brea, was in the background and listening to everything said. “I’m sorry to stick my nose in where it doesn’t belong, but I can’t see Michael giving up a kidney, not after all he’s been through with his surgery. It took him months to heal from the gunshot wound, not to mention the time off from work. A surgery like this will take another batch of months to recuperate. I’m not sure it’s fair to ask Michael to go through all that again.”
“Honey, it’s okay. I might not even be a match,” Michael added.
“Is it only the family that tests? Maybe they can get the word out to others too. You never know who might be a match. Isn’t that what happened to Selena Gomez? You know that singer. I think it was her best friend that donated her kidney. What were the odds of that? It can happen.”
Maggie nodded. “It’s true, and I have no doubt they are testing friends as well as family…maybe even strangers. The odds of finding a match are significantly better with family members though.”
When everyone was silent again, Maggie spoke. “Listen, guys, I can’t tell you what to do. It’s completely up to you whether you test or not, but…”
“Of course I’m testing,” Beth said without hesitation. “We can’t just stand by and let our sister die.” Beth was pleading with the others. “Come on, you guys. If it was one of us, we know what we’d do. Well, Emily is our sister. It doesn’t matter how she came to be. She’s here now, and we need to help her.”
“Well, as much as I’d love to, I have to take myself out of the running…for obvious reasons.”
“You can still test, Lauren. If it turns out that you’re a match, you can still donate, you just can’t have the surgery right away.”
With a bit of sarcasm, Lauren said, “Thanks very much Beth for deciding for me, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be the one to make up my own mind.”
Beth’s mouth was open and ready to respond when Maggie jumped in.
“Stop it. There’s no need to get snippy with each other. This is a terrible situation that needs serious thought. You all take the time you need to make up your mind. I’m going to have to let her mother know that I’ve talked with you all, but I can’t make promises to her. You’ll each have to let me know what you plan to do, so I can get back to her.”
“I don’t need time to think about it. I’ll get tested just as soon as we get back to Massachusetts. As a matter of fact, I’m going to visit her in the hospital. It’s the least I can do,” Beth said.
“I’ll text you the hospital details, Beth.”
“I don’t need to think about it either. I’m getting tested,” Christopher added.
Beth smiled at her brother. Maggie knew that Beth and Christopher would be the first to volunteer.
“I’ll test as well,” Sarah added.
Michael nodded. “It doesn’t hurt to test. I think it would be irresponsible of us not to. I’ll get tested as well.”
Lauren shrugged. “I’ll wait for everyone else to test, but I’ll talk to my doctor. After the baby comes, I’ll get tested.”
“Thanks guys. I’ll find out where you have to go. My guess is that you might have to get to Mass General in Boston. That’s where Emily is but it’s possible you can get tested anywhere. I just don’t know the details, but I’ll find out. With Sarah being down here, we need to figure out what to do from Florida. I’ll let you all know as soon as possible.”
“Mom, are you still coming up here when the baby comes?” Lauren asked.
“I promised I’d be there, didn’t I?”
“I know, it’s just that you’ve got lots going on down there. I understand Aunt Kat left Uncle Nolan and landed at your doorstep.”
“Aunt Kat left Uncle Nolan? Why am I always the last to hear stuff that’s going on in this family?” Christopher asked.
“Yes, well, that’s a story for another day. Hopefully, the two of them will start acting like adults and work things out. Regardless, I’m coming up to be with you all no matter what my sister is doing. With any luck, she’ll go back to her husband sooner, rather than later, and life can get back to normal around here.”
Beth couldn’t wait to tell Gabriel the news about Emily. She’d been on cloud nine ever since they’d formed a plan to grow a new family business.
What is it about this family? Must there always be some life-changing drama around every corner?
She didn’t want to put their plans on hold, but she also couldn’t ignore the seriousness of Emily’s diagnosis. If she was a match, she wouldn’t hesitate to give her sister a kidney.
Everyone in the family loved Emily, and although it was a shock to learn about her existence, they didn’t let it color their feelings for their new half-sister.
Secrets her father kept from her mother changed their world forever. It was hard to forgive her father for what he’d done to the family, but forgiveness was necessary for all of them to move on.
After all, it’s not Emily’s fault that our father had a secret life. She’s as much a member of this family as any one of us,
Even her mother, who had the most to gain by pretending Emily didn’t exist, opened her home and her life to the young woman when she reached out.
But, that was three years ago, and before the Lupus diagnosis. No one realized how sick Emily was. Now that she might die, Beth couldn’t imagine any of her siblings denying Emily’s right to life. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about that. Her siblings did as they always did, they stepped up and said they were willing to be tested, just as she had.
Gabriel came downstairs looking for her.
“There’s my wife. Hello, wife. Have you made coffee by any chance?” he asked.
Beth nodded. “There’s coffee, but that is some serious bed head you’re sporting. I’m not sure I’m married to a man who looks like that first thing in the morning. Who are you?”
Gabriel slipper-shuffled his way to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m your husband, and I need coffee…after a good morning kiss first of course.”
He kissed her once and then again. “I stole one extra.”
She watched him fill his cup with coffee, and then join her at the kitchen table.
“Take a few sips of that coffee before you hear what I’ve got to say.”
“Oh? That bad, huh?”
Beth nodded. “Yup. Do you remember how excited we were yesterday about our plans for the land back home?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Let’s just say, that might be put on hold for a bit.”
“Huh?”
“Why don’t you go get your brother and Linda. My mother called a Code Red this morning.”
“Oh please don’t tell me, we’ve got more bad news.”
Just then the rest of the family came into the kitchen.
“Did someone say bad news?” James asked.
Beth got up from her chair and walked to the coffee pot. “I’m going to make another pot of coffee, and then I’m going to tell you all a story. It’s the kind of story you should be sitting down for…and more coffee will help.”