Chapter
69
Ashalyn awoke to the sound of a ringing phone. Groaning, she rolled over in bed and reached
for the phone in the hotel room she shared with Brian.
“Hello?” she answered groggily.
“Ashalyn? This is
AJ,” came AJ’s unmistakable voice.
“Hey Aje. What’s
up?” Ashalyn asked, surprised to hear from him.
She hadn’t expected him to call their hotel room so early in the
morning.
“It- it’s Elyssa.
They couldn’t wake her up this morning.
Dr. Hart said she’s gone into a coma,” AJ said. Ashalyn could hear his voice trembling.
“A coma? Oh my God,
how did that happen?” Ashalyn asked in disbelief and horror.
“Dr. Hart said the labor must have been too much stress on
her body. She was already weak from the
leukemia and the chemo, and it just knocked her out,” AJ explained tearfully.
“Is she gonna be okay?”
AJ sighed. “Well,
Dr. Hart seems pretty optimistic, but…. I don’t know…”
“Hang in there. Bri and I will be up soon, okay?” Ashalyn
asked.
“Okay,” AJ said, sounding miserable. “Bye.”
“Bye,” Ashalyn echoed, hanging up the phone with trembling
hands. She glanced over at Brian, who
had woken up and was staring at her with wide eyes.
“What happened?” he asked, although she suspected he
already knew by listening to the conversation.
Ashalyn sighed and relayed to Brian the horrible news that
AJ had given her.
***
AJ was sitting in Elyssa’s room, when there was a knock at
the door.
“Come in,” he called softly, expecting to see some of his
friends there. He had called them all
awhile ago and was expecting them to arrive at any time.
But when the door opened, there stood Dr. Sanford
instead. He offered AJ a grim smile in
greeting.
“Hi, Dr. Sanford.
What are you doing here?” AJ asked.
“Dr. Hart called me here.
Elyssa is not stable enough to be moved to Tampa,” Dr. Sanford replied.
“When will she get a transplant?” AJ asked anxiously.
Dr. Sanford shook his head.
“I don’t know, Mr. McLean,” he said regretfully. “I’m afraid that at this point, even if a
donor was found for a transplant, she wouldn’t be strong enough for it. Her body is too weak right now.”
“B- but, she needs it!” AJ sputtered.
“I’m sorry, Mr. McLean,” Dr. Sanford apologized. “All we can really do right now is wait and
hope. She’s in a light coma right now,
and hopefully, that will only last long enough to let her regain some strength
and recover. But I can’t promise you
that.”
“Is she going to live?” AJ asked pitifully.
Dr. Sanford gazed at him with grave, serious eyes. “Mr. McLean, I don’t know for sure, but to be
honest… it doesn’t look good.”
***
“Where’s AJ, I wonder?” Jenna asked, looking around the
waiting room, which was nearly empty, except for her, Nick, Brian, Ashalyn,
Howie, and Serena. They had all gotten
to the hospital less than a half an hour earlier, shortly after AJ had called them
all with the bad news that Elyssa had gone into a coma. Now they had been down to Elyssa’s room, but AJ was nowhere to be
found.
“I don’t know,” Howie said slowly.
“Maybe he went for some coffee or something,” Serena
offered.
“Yeah, maybe,” Ashalyn said. “How about some of us go to the cafeteria to
look?”
“I’ll go with you, Ash,” Brian said, putting an arm around
her shoulders.
“I’ll walk around on this floor and look for him,” Jenna
offered.
“Okay. I’ll go down
to Elyssa’s room, and Howie, you and Nick stay here in case he comes back
here,” Serena instructed.
The group nodded, and they all headed their separate ways
to go look for AJ.
***
