Where Hearts Might Heal

Chapter 11

"What do you mean?" Jay asked.

"You remember what happened to my grandparents?" Jay nodded.

"Yeah, and you got hurt. It's why my grandma moved away." He replied.

"Well, it damaged one of my kidneys. So, I only have one kidney and that one's failing. The doctor gave me some medicine and gave me a diet to go by to help, but..." I trailed off. "I know it's getting worse. I'm only seventeen. I don't know what to do besides going to the doctor. We have tests. I can't go back to my old doctor and a new doctor would want to run all kinds of tests. What should I do?" I asked. Jay shrugged.

"I don't know anything about this. I can't tell you what to do, but we can ask my mom." He replied. I just sent him a look. "She's a nurse." He added. I sighed feeling tired.

"Only if you help me up. I feel really weak." He smiled as he slowly helped me to my feet.

"Mom, can we talk to you?" Jay asked as he slowly walked into his mom's room. She smiled at us but I could see the worry in her eyes.

"How are you feeling? Nat told me you got sick at school and I heard someone getting sick in Jay's room a few minutes." She whispered.

"That's what we want to talk to you about." Jay replied. She looked between us.

"I'm not pregnant. After everything that happened with my grandma, I ended up losing a kidney, but my other one is failing. The doctor gave me some stuff to take and told me what to do to help, but I know it's getting worse." I put my hand to my chest.

"Just slow down and explain everything to me. Slowly." She ordered. Jay helped me sit down. I tried to explain as much as I could to her, but it was getting hard to breathe and my chest was hurting. Jay ended up having to explain what I had told him.

"Okay, you have a test tomorrow, so I'll pick you up afterward and we'll go to the doctor. But, I don't think you're going to be able to take your tests if you're still like this." She told me. I nodded in agreement. "I'll call your brother and talk to him about this. Let him know what's going on. We might need him at the hospital." She added.

"I want to be there too." Jay said. His mom gave him a look.

"You have a test and practice tomorrow." Her voice was stern.

"But I don't. I don't have practice tomorrow I mean. Coach canceled so we would have more time to study. She's my girlfriend, Mom. I need to be there." He pleaded. She glanced at me. I gave her a pleading look. I wanted him there.

"Okay, fine. We'll see how you are in the morning and we'll go from there. Just try to get some sleep." She whispered. Jay thanked her then helped me to his room.

I ended up puking most of the night. Jay and I got very little sleep. He was always right beside me, holding my hair back and wiping my mouth, then helping me back to bed. When he told his mom that, she told us to just change and she'd take me through the emergency room. Beck could meet us there. No way was either one of us going to make it through the tests. I was too sick and Jay was too tired. I couldn't even walk by myself. Jay had to support me. He'd had to help me get dressed because I couldn't stand. It was just like when I'd first found out about my kidney failure. I'd also just been shot and had surgery too. I was pretty weak then.

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"Okay, Miss Blaire. I'm Doctor Mike. I called Doctor Moore. He's going to send us your records. Until then, we're going to hook you up to an IV and run some tests. We've got to get something into you." The doctor told me. I just moaned.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jay asked. I could hear the panic in his voice.

"She should be fine once we get everything figured out." Doctor Mike replied.

"Should be?" Jay asked.

"Jay, Honey, just sit down." Mama P whispered. I reached for his hand. I smiled as I felt him grab my hand.

"I'm just worried about her Mom. I can't lose her." He sounded like he was close to tears. I wanted to hug him, but it was too hard to move. I heard the door open and close.

"Blaire..." My brother whispered. I made a noise as my eyes drifted closed.

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I smiled as Jay stepped into the room with flowers in his hand. When all the tests came back, Doctor Mike could finally give me the medicine I needed. Plus, I had to stay in the hospital. Jay hadn't wanted to leave my side, but his mom and I made him. He needed to take his tests. I could make mine up since I was in the hospital. He couldn't. Except for that one day, Mama P had gotten him a doctor's excuse. He'd go take his test then come right back to my side. Day, Nat, and Ross visited the most out of his siblings and cousins. Canton visited the least. I didn't blame him. We'd barely talked. I didn't know him that well and he seemed freaked out when he stopped by. Jay told me he didn't like hospitals.

"For my beautiful girlfriend." Jay said handing me the bouquet. He made a face as he looked around the room. "Who brought these other flowers?" He asked jokingly.

"Oh, you know, my other boyfriends." I teased. He'd bought all the flowers. Every time he had to leave, he'd show up with a new bouquet. He lightly kissed me.

"I'll just have to have a word with them. I don't like sharing." He replied sitting down beside me. I laughed which turned into a cough. "Still having chest pains?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No, just sore from the pain. The laughing made it hurt." I replied. He frowned.

"How'd your tests go?" I wanted to change the subject.

"They were okay. I think I passed. I had other things on my mind, but my grades are good and I knew most of the answers so I should be okay." I smiled up at him as the doctor walked back into the room with a nurse behind him.

"Another bouquet?" The nurse looked at Jay then back at me. "You are one lucky girl." She added. The doctor smiled.

"Well, I have good news. I talked to Mrs. Silverton. She's agreed to let you stay with her so she can monitor you. After your trip, I want you to come back in and we'll start with weekly checkups to make sure that your kidney is working right. If not, we'll either have to start dialysis or you'll need a transplant." Doctor Mike told me.

"So I can go home?" I asked. He laughed as he nodded.

"As soon as Mrs. Silverton is here. We want to go over a few things with her first and she has to sign some papers. You'll be on a slightly stricter diet." He explained.

"Don't worry. I'll even do the diet with you. You scared me too bad last time. I'm not letting that happen again as long as I can do something about it." Jay promised. Doctor Mike smiled.

"I'm going to hold you to that." He said before leaving the room. Leaving Jay and I in silence.

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"Ready to be home?" Mama P asked as we walked up to the door. After she'd talked to the doctor and signed some papers, Jay had driven me back to his house.

"Yes, the hospital has horrible TV channels and it's so quiet." I replied.

"Quiet definitely isn't a word you hear around here." She laughed. I glanced at Jay. He hadn't said much since we left the hospital. "The doctor said to take it easy. If you need anything just let me know." Mama P gave us a look.

"Welcome home." Several voices yelled as soon as I stepped into the house. I looked around with wide eyes. All of Jay's siblings and cousins stood around the room. Along with Beck, Marcy, Kate, and some other girls I didn't know.