Lana’s POV “You’re right,” I whispered, closing my eyes and letting his words sink in. “But it’s so hard, Cameron. Every second feels like an eternity, and I can’t help the feeling that I should be doing more.”“You’re doing everything you can,” he reassured me, his hands never stopping their soothing motions. “We all are.”I leaned back further, feeling the warmth of the water and the comfort of Cameron’s touch. “I know. And I’m grateful for that. It’s just...”“I know,” he said softly, cutting me off. “It’s a lot. But you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.”For a moment, we sat in silence, the only sound being the gentle sloshing of the water as I shifted slightly. Cameron’s hands moved from my shoulders to my neck, gently kneading the tension away. I sighed as I felt the weight lift from my shoulders.“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper.“You’ll never have to find out,” he replied firmly. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Andre’s POV The process was slow, but at least it had begun. I had been made to spend four excruciating days in the hospital, doing nothing most of the time but lying down, conducting tests and more tests, eating, wandering about the hospital premises, and doing it all over again, but it was not all bad. There were days that I now store as sacred memories in the most precious parts of my heart. Days that I had hoped would never end. Those days were the ones I had to spend with my baby girl. Zoe, whom I had now confirmed was my biological daughter,. I had yet to meet her brother, Joe, but I was sure that was a work in progress. Today, though, was not one of those days that I wanted to end. In fact, I hoped for nothing more than for the day to quickly come to an end and open up on the last day I had to spend here. I was lying on the hospital bed on this day, and my arm was connected to a machine that, according to the doctor, collected my stem cells while a nurse monitored the proc
Andre’s POV“Doctor, what are you saying?” Lana croaked. Days ago, when she had arrived at the hospital after returning home for the much-recommended rest, she had looked like a semblance of her former self. The colour returned to her pale cheeks, and the dark circles around her eyes were almost invisible. But now, she was almost like a ghost. Her red, sunken eyes glared at the doctor, and her patched lips trembled until she caught the bottom lip in between her teeth, but it was so hard I thought I smelled blood. “We need to stop the collection process immediately to prevent any further damage to his body.” The doctor offered. It was all he had been offering us for the past twenty minutes, and even I was getting tired of it. “Think of it like stopping a car before it goes off a cliff. We need to hit the brakes and figure out what’s going on before we can move forward.” “And my daughter?” At this point, Lana was desperate, and it was obvious in her voice. We all were. “We’ll only n
Andre’s POVI was confused; we were all, and after a while of silence, Lana asked the question that was on all of our minds. “Is there any chance we can continue with the current treatment?” His grip tightened around the bedpost, and I saw the white of her knuckle bones. I had the urge to reach out and calm her down, but with Cameron standing behind her, I didn’t think that was a good idea. The doctor shook his head. “At this point, continuing with the current treatment poses too much risk to his health. We need to prioritise stabilising his condition.”Tears welled up in Lana’s eyes, and I felt a pang of guilt and helplessness. “How long will this take?” I asked. “And what are the chances of finding another match?”“We’ll begin the medication immediately,” the doctor replied. “As for finding another match, it can be a lengthy process, but we’ll be working with international donor registries to expedite the search. We’re also exploring advanced cell therapies that might be suitable.
Andre’s POVThe nurse did not stay too long and did not do much. According to her, since I was no longer on medication and the stem cell removal was not happening, it was taking my liver some time to recover from the allergic reaction. After about thirty minutes following her departure, the door opened again, and this time, the doctor walked in. His expression gave nothing away. He moved to the centre of the room, and we all turned to face him.“I apologise for taking your time.” He began slowly. “There was an emergency that required immediate attention. Moving from that, I’ve got some good news for you.” Lana jumped to her feet, as did Darby. We all looked at the doctor expectantly. “We’ve come up with a plan to counter the adverse effects of the bone marrow donation on your body.”I leaned forward, hope rising in my chest. “What is it?”The doctor pulled up a chair and lowered himself into it. “We believe that by adjusting the medication regimen and enhancing our monitoring protoc
Cameron’s POVI pulled Lana into a hug, holding her tightly as we both absorbed the gravity of the situation. “We’ve made it this far,” I said softly. “We’ll get through this too.”The wait was far from over, but for the first time in what felt like forever, we had a glimmer of hope to hold onto. We stayed close, our hands intertwined, drawing strength from each other.Hours passed, and the hospital room settled into a quiet rhythm. Nurses came and went; anxiety ate slowly through us. Lana sat in the chair beside me, her eyes never leaving the door. She looked exhausted, but whenever the door opened, she glanced up. I reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently.Just turn, the door opens, and the doctor we had all been expecting steps out. “The transplant procedure is complete,” he announced, and I heaved a sigh of relief. “Zoe is stable and resting now. The next 48 hours are critical, but she’s doing well so far.”I grabbed his hand in a handshake of gratitude. “Thank you, do
Cameron’s POV “Did you get any sleep at all?” I asked, slipping into a stool beside her. Although I had hurried over everything, I had tried to catch some sleep, but it had not been up to thirty minutes. Still, it felt like it had come a long way. Darby poured a cup of coffee from the kettle and passed it to me. “Did you?”I pulled the coffee cup closer, cradling it as the warmth seeped through my fingers. I shrugged and placed the cup on my lips, allowing the air to play with my senses. “I’ll have as much sleep as I want when Lana and Zoe return home.”I took another sip of the coffee. “By the way, do you think we should stop by Lana’s place and check on Joe? Maybe bring him with us. Zoe is getting better already, and they’ve been apart for so long.” “I guess we could do that? He and Lana have only been talking on the phone these past few days, and I’m sure she misses him.” She sighed heavily. “Ahhh... I really cannot wait for all of this to be over so you all can tell me how Andr
Lana’s POV I wanted nothing other than to go home, take a long, cold shower, eat at least five bowls of ice cream, then lay down and sleep for a week, but all these were mere imaginations. That was the only place they could exist freely, in my thoughts. For now...The past few weeks have been hectic for all of us. After the preparation and then the transplant, we had all put our all into making sure that Zoe recovered fully and properly. Even Joe was not left out. He had insisted he do something to help his sister recover quickly. Now, we had only a few days until we were discharged and could finally return home and to our personal and individual realities, but the life that was waiting outside of this hospital seemed even more daunting. I had no time to rest... We all had no time to rest.Once I got out of here, I was to resume work immediately to try to make up for all the days I had missed. I would be going from one meeting to the next, jumping from one meeting with an investor