Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“I don’t think she’ll make it without it,” he says quietly.
“Okay, I’m just getting to Zack’s. I’ll call you when I leave,” I tell him as I pay the driver and jog up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. Sarah comes to the door with her jacket already on.
“Thank god, you’re here,” she tells me, and I see that her eyes are red.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask her, walking in.
“My throat is starting to get scratchy, my bones ache, and I think I feel a fever coming on,” she says, and I reach out, touching her forehead.
“Shit,” I say. Going from her forehead to the side of her neck, I feel her glands. “Your glands are swollen.” I ask her to open her mouth, and it’s dark, but I see small white spots on the back of her throat. “It might be strep. Can you swing by the hospital? Steve is there, and he can check you out,” I tell her, and she nods. I take my phone out and text Steve. “Here is his number. Text him when you get to the hospital, and he will come down and see you.”
“Thank you so, so much,” she says, grabbing her purse and walking out of the door, slamming it.
“Daddy, are you home?” I hear Jack from somewhere in the house.
“Nope, it isn’t Daddy!” I yell and hear little steps running through the house. I spot him running around the corner down the long hallway and open my arms just in time for him to run in them.
“Dr. Denise,” he says, wrapping his arms around my neck and burying his face in my neck. “Sarah is sick,” he says, pulling away from my neck but leaving his hands buried in my hair. “She made me wear a mask, and she wore one too.”
“That’s a good idea,” I tell him, walking into the living room and sitting down with him on my lap. “Your dad should be home any minute, and I have some awesome news for you guys.”
“Is it going to make me all better?” he asks, his eyes big and blue.
“Is it going to make my hair grow back?” he asks me, and I’m about to answer him when I hear Zack’s voice booming from the front door.
“I’m home!” he shouts, and then I hear the keys hit the table by the door as he walks in. From my position on the couch, I look over, and I stop to stare. He’s wearing the team track suit, and he unzips the jacket and throws it off as he smiles at me. His t-shirt pulls across his shoulders, and he smiles at us and sits on the couch, facing us.
“How is everything?” I turn to him and ask.
“It was a gloomy day, but it’s suddenly looking up.” I look down at Jack and then look back over at his father.
“I can’t wait anymore,” I finally say. “I’ve been sitting on this since last week, and I got confirmation at lunch.”
Zack sits up now, propping his forearms on his thighs and letting his hands hang between his knees.
“Is it bad?” he says, and his eyes fill with tears. The need to pick up Jack and go to Zack overtakes me, and I get up, going to sit next to him, my own tears now stinging at my eyes. Jack looks at his father and then at me.
“It’s so not bad,” I say, smiling at him. “They just came out with a new drug; the FDA just approved it to go on the market, but the thing is each patient has to be approved and meet certain guidelines in order to use it.”
“What does that mean?” Zack looks at me, and this time, I reach my hand out and take his, our fingers intertwining.
“It means that Jack is going to be one of the first patients to receive this medication procedure.”
“Oh my god,” he whispers.
“It’s still not guaranteed, but,” I tell him, “it’s a shot.”
“What do we need to do?” he asks me, and I tell him.
“Monday morning, Jack will come in, and we will draw blood to send to their labs to process. This medication alters his white T cells to include a new gene that directs the T cells to target and kill the leukemia cells. So when the processed blood is returned, we’ll infuse it back into him. So it’s almost like we are tricking it.”
“And then I won’t be sick anymore?” Jack asks, and I nod.
“If all goes well,” I say, looking at him, and I can’t help the tears that fall, “you will be a healthy little boy. There are side effects, of course, but we can only hope for the best.”
“We have to try it,” Zack says. “Whatever the effects are in the end, if he’s okay, that is what we want.”