The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 10: Two of a kind

Summary:

Alec receives a very special gift, from his brother.

The sun had gone down by the time Izzy and Magnus had reached the hospital. They held hands as they raced up the steps together and into the hospital entrance. Magnus paused in the door way and handed Izzy's bag to her. She had run back into the house, on the way and picked up some spare clothes and various other things. Maryse and Robert had rung the mom of Max's friend, so he was staying there for the night. Izzy double checked her bag quickly, as they walked. She now had two brothers in the hospital and wasn't leaving unless she was physically dragged. She would sleep on a chair in the family room if she had to.

Magnus stopped walking. "Iz. Go on ahead a minute. I'm out of breath." She looked over in concern.

"Are you okay?"

Magnus leaned against the corridor wall. "Yes-" He gestured for Izzy to go. "I'm fine. I'll catch up in a minute." Izzy raced on ahead, trying to remember the code to get into Alec's ward.

Magnus watched her go and opened the door that was next to him. He'd been here on occasion to shout his anger at the hand he had been dealt. He hadn't told Alec, but before his diagnosis, him and his father had gone to church every Sunday. His dad still continued to go, now and then, but Magnus had lost his faith along the way. He opened the second door that led into the hospital chapel. It was a beautiful place filled with warm light and comforting words if you chose to ask for it. He walked to the front and sat down on the carpet. He stared up at the large cross on the wall.

He closed his eyes.

Please. If there's anyone up there, please listen to me. I'm so sorry that I lost my trust in you. I was wrong. Punish me if you must but all I'm asking is that you do this one thing for me. I promise that I'll find my faith again- He sniffled, and his teary eyes made the candles in front of him look like smudged dots. Listen- I thought my life was over until a few months ago. I couldn't cope with the fact that I was so miserable, even though I had seen so many of my damn friends fade away in front of me, I couldn't be grateful that I had lived even though I wanted to live a good life to make up for the life they lost. I had no purpose and nothing to look forward to- He sniffed and laughed. -and then you gave me Alexander. Beautiful and sweet Alexander, with his bright eyes and even sweeter smile. He changed everything for me and I can't live without him now. I won't. Please, God, if you are listening. Please just let Alec accept Jace's cells and get better. Please. We can deal with everything else afterwards, but I need him- I need him to get through tonight and come back to me. His voice shook as he wiped his eyes. I love him so much and I promise to tell him that, every single day, if you just help us get through this.

***

Robert brushed his hand over Jace's hair. He whispered softly as they watched the anaesthetist prepare the things he needed.

"Are you frightened?" Jace shook his head. He was absolutely petrified.

Robert patted his hand and looked up at the nurse who was walking over to the bed. "I'm so proud of you, Jace. We all are."

The nurse walked over and spoke in a sweet voice. "Okay. We'll be ready to put you to sleep in a minute, Jace. It's standard procedure to tell you what we're going to do, just to double check everything, if that's okay." Jace nodded. "As you know, what we are doing today is preforming a bone marrow extraction. You have two types of bone marrow: red and yellow. Yellow bone marrow is older and is found in the length of your arms and legs. Red bone marrow is what we'll be taking from you. It is found in the ends of your bones, the vertebrae of the back and the hip bone. In a minute, we will be putting you under anaesthetic. It will take about an hour to carry out and we'll use long needles to withdraw liquid bone marrow from both sides of the back of your pelvic bone. It will then be taken upstairs for your brother and you'll be taken to the ward for observation. Okay?"