Sister Mother

Chapter 38

Leo

According to the McKenna's, I was a hospital virgin. I hadn't known what to expect about this trip to Delaware, even after her Addie warned me every day for six weeks. At first it was a lot like our trip to Hawaii: the flight, hotel and wrestling each other over the dinner bill.

There were only subtle things that differed. The heavy blank expressions on Gabe and Beatrice's faces. How Gabe didn't try to make me uncomfortable as much. How when we got to our hotel room, Addie told me that if fear ever got the best of me, I had to make damn sure Gabe and Beatrice didn't see it.

Then came Addie's pre-surgical appointments, which apparently meant finding out if Addie was well enough to go into surgery. That meant numerous x-rays followed by visits to Addie's cardiologist, pulmonologist, and three other ologists that I couldn't remember, and the orthopedic surgeon.

"This can't be right," I said as the taxi driver pulled into a parking lot. A twelve-story blue building loomed in front of us. "The sign said it's a children's hospital."

"It's right," Beatrice answered, with her hands in her lap.

I raised my eyebrows. Why would Addie have her surgery done at a children's hospital?

"Not a lot of adult doctors know about Morquio," explained Beatrice.

"Why not?"

"There's a lot more kids living with it than adults," Gabe answered.

I didn't say another word until the driver stopped the car. Beatrice and I got the wheelchair and scooter out. The scooter was pretty heavy but I'd mastered putting it together by the time we left for Hawaii. I lifted Addie out of the car and into the wheelchair. Gabe sat in the scooter while Beatrice fiddled with her purse strap.

Gabe, Beatrice and I spent most of the day waiting while Addie had her appointments. We went to no less than five waiting rooms. Whenever a nurse or doctor would pass by, they'd wave to Gabe and Beatrice and greet them by name. More than once, they were asked where their parents were. After the third time this happened, Gabe just told the nurse that his parents were in the gift shop.

I tried to keep track of the many appointments, but they all blurred together. Finally Itook out my phone and did something I'd rarely done in college. I looked up Morquio.

"Don't do that," Gabe warned me.

"What?"

"Go online for answers. Especially this week."

"Why not?"

"First of all, if you have questions, Addie and I can answer them. Secondly, all the internet will tell you are some big words that'll make you feel worse."

I clicked my phone off. "Addie's told me a bit about Morquio. But I don't really get it."

"That's 'cause she's the Future Doctor and geeks out a lot. Unlike Addie, I speak English. Ask away," said Gabe.

"Really?" From what Beatrice told me, Addie hated getting questions about it.

He nodded. "If you're here, it means you're sticking around. You may as well know what you're getting into. What do you know about it so far?"

"It's um, it's a bone thing. Your guys' bones don't grow much but when they do, they grow all funky. So why are we in—" I glanced at the sign on the receptionist's desk. "Cardiology?"

"It's mostly a bone thing. In layman's terms, our bones don't grow as much, but our organs do. Everything's kinda jammed inside and it's all cluttered. That can cause a lot of problems."