One Wish Left

CHAPTER 33: MOTHER

My lovely and patient readers,

I am SO SORRY it has taken me so long to update! Many things have been going on in the life of yours truly that have left me with very little creative energy. However, I am back at it, and I hope to wrap up Jesse and Laura's journey very soon.

Much love to you all,
Briezylouise
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"What does this mean?" Laura asked as she sat, once again, feeling utterly overwhelmed in Dr. Moore's tiny office.

"These results tell us his kidney function is extremely low. Kieran will need a transplant within the next few weeks, or he'll have to be placed on dialysis," the doctor explained, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Laura looked over at Jesse, who was sitting beside her with one hand holding hers and the other bracing his chin. She saw his brows furrow in concern. "Is dialysis a bad thing?" he asked.

"Not a bad thing at all. But outcomes and quality of life are typically much better with a transplant, particularly for children. If we could find him a living donor sometime this week, that would be ideal."

As Dr. Moore looked down at the file on his desk, Jesse asked, "And what is the process for finding a donor? How likely is it that he'll find one?"

"Close relatives and sometimes family friends like to have testing done first to see if any matches come up. If we find nothing there, he'd be placed on the waitlist, which is unfortunately quite long." He shuffled the papers around in the file, and finding the one he wanted, he held it up closer to his face. "It looks like Kieran has blood type B, so we'll need to find a B or O blood type donor. Then we'd proceed to tissue and cross-matching."

"Dammit," Laura muttered. Jesse looked at her in surprise. "He must've gotten that from Brodie. Mine is A-positive," she explained.

Dr. Moore put down the papers and removed his glasses. "Are there other adults in the child's life? Uncles, aunts? Grandparents, even?"

Jesse clenched his jaw and turned back to the doctor. "I'm his cousin, and I'd like to be tested."

Tears sprang to Laura's eyes. "Jesse."

It was all she could say.

He turned his body to face hers. "We should tell Eleanor, Laura. She might be a match. Maybe my mum, too."

Laura dipped her head and looked at their intertwined fingers. She dreaded telling them, especially Eleanor, after keeping Kieran a secret for so long. Her mind filled with the possible hurt, confusion, and betrayal that Eleanor might feel learning for the first time about her grandson.
After a moment she nodded. "Will you do it? Will you tell them about everything?" Normally, she liked to take responsibility and work out her own issues and confrontations. Right now, however, she just didn't have it in her. She was utterly drained emotionally.

He squeezed her hand. "Of course."

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That little bitch.

That deceitful, conniving little bitch.

These were the thoughts swirling around Eleanor's brain as she sat in the back of a taxi on her way to meet her grandson for the first time. It was only 36 hours ago that Jesse had called with the biggest bomb of news that Eleanor had ever experienced, and she had yet to wrap her brain around it.

She was a grandmother. And her son, her long-deceased son, was a father. At least, that was what Laura was claiming. Eleanor had her doubts about why Laura might be sharing this news after all this time. Sure, the boy was apparently sick, but what was Laura really trying to get out of her now?