A Twist Of Fate (PREVIOUSLY A Purple Garden)

NEW Chapter 36

As the car sped swiftly up into the hospital parking garage, Lucas turned into the first open spot he came up onto. 

For a while Sydney sat frozen, unable to move as her mind conjured all the worst case scenarios. In trying to take control of her uneven and nervous breathing, the best she'd been able to do was slow her rattled breaths. 

The car had stopped entirely with a small jerk as the gear shift shifted smoothly into Park. But in all the rush to get there, as hurried as she felt, she struggled to find the energy to get out and face whatever was waiting inside. 

The sudden gentle touch of Lucas' hand on her thigh radiated warmth throughout her body. She drew in a deep breath as she focused on the small circles he traced with his thumb against the denim of her jeans. 

"Syd," he said softly. "Are you ready to go inside?"

Was she ready? No, not even a little bit. But it didn't matter if she was or not. She let her thoughts race a moment longer as she reached to rest her hand on his where it still sat on her leg. Swallowing hard against the knot that had formed in her throat, she turned to meet his eyes and gave a weak nod. 

He offered a small, sad smile. "I'll be right there with you," he promised her, his voice as tender and sympathetic as his touch. "I'm not going anywhere."

As they made their way into the hospital, it felt like years had passed before they finally reached the ICU waiting room even though the clock on her phone swore it had only been eight minutes. There was only one person in the small waiting room lobby, making it that much easier to find her brother. He was sitting in one of the plastic blue chairs with an elbow resting on either armrest beside him, his hands folded in front of his torso as his right leg bounced anxiously.

"Jeremy?" Her voice sounded so foreign to her in that moment. It was so strained. She hadn't even realized she had said his name out loud until he looked up and at her. His eyes were dim with exhaustion despite the small smile of relief that washed over him as he recognized her.

"You're here," he breathed out, pushing himself up from the chair and crossing the small distance between them. Quickly, his broad arms enveloped her into the comfortingly warm hug of a brother. For a moment, it took her back to when they were both much younger, back to when his hugs gave her the sense of safety and protection amongst any chaos that could be raging around her. "I'm so sorry to cut your weekend short-"

"Don't be sorry for that," Sydney answered quickly as she stepped back to look at his face. "I told you to call me if anything happened and I appreciate that you did."

"Of course," Jeremy nodded as he looked past Sydney to Lucas who stood behind her. "Lucas."

Lucas stepped to stand beside Sydney, wrapping an arm gently around her waist as his other hand reached forward to meet Jeremy's extended fist with his own. "Hey, man. How are you holding up?"

Jeremy paused as his gaze shifted down thoughtfully. "I don't even know," he said simply. "I can't stress enough how quickly it happened. How quickly she went down."

Sydney struggled to find words. But what was there to say? Of every emotion wearing her down in that moment, it was guilt that was the heaviest.

I shouldn't have left, she thought to herself.

Where Lucas's hand rest on her waist, she felt him start to trace small, soothingly circles softly against the fabric of her shirt. She didn't have to say it out loud; he knew what she was thinking.

"Dean?"

The trio turned towards the man in a white lab coat standing in the waiting room entrance. "That's us," Jeremy said quickly.

The man moved towards them, smiling sympathetically. "I'm Dr. Watson. I'm one of the physicians caring for Rebecca here in the ICU." Suddenly, his attention fixed on Lucas. "I'm sorry. Have we met?"

Lucas seemed to hesitate for a moment either as if he was trying to recall how they'd met or he was uncomfortable being the center of attention at such a time. "We might have. My name is Lucas Hudson. I work in the Research Sciences Department on the seventh floor with Dr. Sears. I'm sure we've crossed paths at some point."

"Dr. Sears!" The doctor said with surprise. "My goodness! He is one of the most brilliant oncologists I have ever met. You don't happen to lead any of his seminars, do you?"

"Actually, yes," Lucas said, seemingly caught off guard as he humbly spoke. "I lead his two most recent seminars on the use of Stem Cells and the molecular mechanisms of the environment surrounding tumor cells during metastasis." 

Sydney's eyes widened as she, like her brother, turned to look at Lucas. What had so causally rolled off his tongue sounded like a word salad to them as bystanders. Feeling the weight of their inspecting eyes, Lucas cleared his throat.

"That's where I recognize you!" Dr. Watson recalled with a smile. "I attended both of those. Talk about riveting content, Mr. Hudson."

Offering a small head nod, Lucas simply smiled politely. "Thank you, doctor."

 Returning his attention to Sydney and Jeremy, any happiness that had been there fell from Dr. Watson's expression. "Forgive me," he said, getting back to why he had come to speak with them to begin with. "What are your names?"

As they introduced themselves and explained that Rebecca was their mother, Dr. Watson sat down with them. "I'm afraid I don't have the best news," he began.

The world seemed to stop at those words. Swallowing hard, Sydney felt Lucas' hand grab hers firmly as her attention remained glued on the doctor in front of her.

"Your mother's liver has little to no function at this point. All the waste it couldn't clear from her body has stayed in her blood. That's why she became confused and then unresponsive."

His words echoed in Sydney's ears as she squeezed Lucas's hand tighter. He squeezed hers back, the warm gesture steadying her for a moment. "What can we do?" She heard her brother ask from beside her, desperation in his voice.

The doctor frowned. "There's really not much we can do," he explained, sadly. "Your mother has been on a waiting list for a transplant for some time, right?"

They nodded.

"We're going to continue providing as much supportive care as we can for as long as we can but if she doesn't match with a donor soon, nothing we do will be enough," he sighed. "I'm really sorry to be telling you this. I know it's difficult. We have her on a ventilator right now to support her respiratory status and like I said, we're treating her as best as we can here. But what she needs is a new liver and if she doesn't get one soon, she won't even be strong enough to tolerate a transplant."

"I understand," Sydney heard herself say.

Frustrated, Jeremy heaved a heavy sigh. "But why is she having such a hard time finding a match? She's been on that list for months!"

Teary-eyed, Sydney rubbed his hand softly. The way he was lashing out was something she, as a nurse, had seen many family members do. He was simply reacting to having no control. He was powerless.

"That's a good question," Dr. Watson said as he drew in a breath. "People can spend a long time on the waitlist and many of them don't ever come off. Your mother has a rare blood type and to even further complicate things, she has very rare antibodies in her blood too. It's incompatible with most types. That's another reason why it's so difficult finding her a match," he explained.

Jeremy breathed out as he choked on a sob and squeezed his eyes shut. He dropped his head to his hands as he sat down in a nearby waiting room chair.

Crying quietly to herself, Sydney pulled away from Lucas as she tried to sit strong beside her brother.

"If there's anything we can do, please let us know," the doctor said to her as he looked at her sadly. "I'm so sorry."

As he disappeared from the waiting room, Sydney leaned into her brother's shoulder and cried, sobs shaking her small body. She felt Lucas's hand rub her back softly as she tried to piece together the nightmare unfolding in front of her.