Prologue
"I'm
sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Ashmore," the doctor said again. But Dave and Lisa
Ashmore could not be comforted. How could any parents be comforted when they
had just been told their daughter was probably going to die.
Their only
child, seven year old Morgan, had had a heart condition since she was a baby.
When she was only six months old, she had gotten a mild case of strep throat.
The infection had gotten worse though, and eventually, it turned into rheumatic
fever, which damaged her heart, making it weak and enlarged. When she was very
little, it hadn't been to much of a problem, but over the years, it had
steadily worsened. Now, Dr. Thomas Avery, Morgan's cardiologist, was telling
her parents that her only chance for survival was a heart transplant. Without
one, she probably wouldn't even live past her eighth birthday, which was not
even a year away.
"We
better get going," Dave Ashmore said to his wife, Lisa, standing up.
"Here,"
Dr. Avery said, handing a slip of paper to Dave. "This is a prescription
of that medication I was telling you about. It will help for the pain."
"Thank
you," Dave said, taking the prescription. Then he lead Lisa out of the
doctor's office. Once in the hall, he turned to her, and brushed the tears off
her cheeks. "Don’t cry, honey," he said. "We can't let Morgan
see us upset like this." Lisa nodded and wiped her eyes with a tissue.
When she had composed herself, she and Dave walked out to the waiting room.
Morgan was sitting in the waiting room, coloring at a small table. She looked
up when her parents walked in.
"Hi
Mommy! Hi Daddy!" she said brightly, standing up from the table.
"Look at what I colored!" She showed them a white piece of paper with
five men drawn on it. "It's the Backstreet Boys!" Lisa took the paper
and smiled sadly. Morgan loved the Backstreet Boys. She owned two of their cd's
and knew the words to all of their songs.
"That's
great, sweetie," Lisa said, hugging Morgan tightly.
"Are we
going home now?" Morgan asked.
"Yes
honey, we're going home now," Lisa replied.
"Can we
go out for ice cream first?" Morgan asked hopefully. They usually went out
for ice cream after Morgan's doctor appointments.
"Sure!"
Dave said, trying to sound cheerful.
"Yay!"
Morgan said happily. "Let's go!" Dave smiled and took her hand, and
the three of them walked out to the car.
***
