Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 147 - Waiting for a Change

Greg and Susan looked up. Jessie and Julie did too when the doctor walked into Melody's sick room.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy. Hello Jessie," Dr. Bowers said.

"Hi Dr. Bowers. Are Julie and me supposed to leave?" Jessie wondered.

"Are you here to say 'goodbye' to your little sister?" the doctor wondered.

"We've been wondering if it is time," Julie told him. "I'm Julie Rosenberg, Melody's eldest sister."

"Julie is my daughter from a previous marriage," Greg added.

"I see. Families do get complicated sometimes," Dr. Bowers agreed.

"Should we leave?" Julie wondered, repeating Jessie's question.

"Not necessarily. The news I have affects you all, however I will leave that up to your father and step-mother," Dr. Bowers said.

He looked questioningly at Greg and Susan.

"It's fine with me if they stay," Susan said.

"I am also of the opinion they should stay," Greg told the doctor. "Also, would you mind terribly if Susan's sons joined us for this?"

"Not at all. Are they nearby?" Dr. Bowers asked.

"They're in the waiting room. Julie, can you fetch them?" Greg asked.

"Right away," Julie said.

It took less than a minute for Matt and Ashley, and Zack and Kelly to return and for Julie to rejoin them. Once they did, Greg asked Dr. Bowers, "Have you news for us?"

"Yes, I think I do. You won't be saying goodbye to Melody today," Dr. Bowers told the worried family. "Her cancer is progressing, and it's in its terminal stages, but I have reason to believe it is a combination of her fever and the resultant swelling in her brain due to her infection and not the cancer per se that is causing her unconscious state, and probably her paralysis. If we can get her fever down a bit further, it is likely she will awake, if you want her to. Or if you prefer, if you think it's best, we can let her pass as she is, without ever knowing she was in the hospital."

The family all looked at one another.

"Some of us would like the opportunity to say 'goodbye'," Susan replied.

"Of course. I understand that with the sudden onset of her illness, that wasn't possible for everyone," Dr. Bowers said.

"Do you know how long she has left?" Greg asked.

"A few days, maybe. With as quickly as the tumors in her head are growing, I doubt it will be much more than that. As I've said, I doubt it will be today ... and probably even not tomorrow, but beyond that it is difficult to say," Dr. Bowers told them.

"So, Monday then?" Matt asked.

Dr. Bowers shrugged slightly. "Maybe. I doubt she will last to Friday, but whether it will be Tuesday or Wednesday or even Thursday, no one can say. It depends on the degree to which we can control the swelling, how strong she is, how well the rest of her body can compensate for the functions being lost by her brain, those sorts of things."

"So it's in the Lord's hands," Matt concluded.

"That is one way of putting it," Dr. Bowers agreed. "We'll continue to give Melody the antiviral agent we've started her on, the antibiotic to prevent a secondary infection, the analgesic for her fever, and something for pain. That way if she does wake up between now and then, hopefully she won't be too uncomfortable. Oh, and I'm going to have her bed moved to a more private room, one with no restriction on visitors no later than tomorrow."