Forever Together by Leeanna Morgan Page B

nervous as Dan felt.
    Doctor T caught on pretty quick to the mood
in the room. “Kaylee’s fine. More than fine. We’ve scheduled the
transplant for Monday afternoon.”
    It was as if Doctor T had poked a pin in a
balloon. Everyone in the room let go of the breath they didn’t know
they’d been holding.
    Tears filled Anna’s eyes. “Are you sure she’s
well enough?”
    “Kaylee’s health isn’t going to improve
beyond where she is today,” Doctor T replied.
    And that, Dan supposed, was about as honest
an answer as they would ever hear.
    Doctor T sat beside Anna and Tom. “The
transplant team is happy with her progress. We’ve got her final
chemotherapy session booked for Saturday afternoon. That gives us a
good window of opportunity to transplant the stem cells. Kate, I
need you to be at the hospital by seven o’clock on Monday morning.
We’ll have you in surgery by nine. No eating or drinking after
eight o’clock on Sunday evening.”
    Kate nodded. She seemed as shell-shocked as
the rest of them.
    “We’ll drive you in,” Tom said. “Anna and I
will be with you the whole time. You’ve got nothing to worry
about.”
    Instead of looking like she’d been dropped
into a hole she wanted to get out of, Kate looked relieved. Maybe
even thankful that her father and stepmom would be with her. That
gave Dan something more to think about. Something other than Kaylee
sitting in a hospital bed a few feet away.
    “Have you told Kaylee?” Dan asked.
    “Not yet,” Doctor T answered. “I thought
someone in her family might like to share the news with her.”
    Anna looked up at Tom. “We’ll go and tell
her. It’s just…” She took a deep breath and wiped away the tears
slipping down her face. “It’s been so long in coming and now that
it’s here I’m scared. Scared for Kaylee. Scared that it won’t
work.”
    Tom gripped his wife’s shoulders. “Whatever
happens we’ll be here for each other. This is the best chance
Kaylee has of making a full recovery. Without Kate, we wouldn’t have any hope.”
    Dan glanced at Kate. Tears fell down her face
and he saw a lifetime of grief in her eyes. He didn’t understand
her reaction to what was happening. But he did know what it felt
like to have so much heartache inside of you that you didn’t know
what to do with it.
    He moved across the room, grabbing a handful
of tissues out of a box on the table. “Kaylee will be all right,”
he said as he sat beside her.
    Kate’s hand shook as she took the tissues and
blew her nose. She didn’t look at him, didn’t respond to the gentle
pressure of his arm touching hers. “Are you okay?”
    She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
When she blinked them open, he
knew she’d locked away the emotions running riot inside her
body.
    “I’m fine.” Kate sent a wobbly smile across
to Anna. “Someone once told me that we’re all put on this planet
for a purpose. Kaylee’s my purpose.”
    Dan’s throat tightened. He watched his sister
cry all over again and Tom wipe tears from his eyes. He picked up
the box of tissues and started handing them around. “Kaylee’s going
to wonder what’s going on if she sees your red blotchy faces.”
    Anna wiped her nose and straightened her
shoulders. “You’re right. How about we go to the cafeteria for
coffee?”
    Dan was so tense that coffee was the last
thing he needed, but he’d go anyway. His sister and Tom needed his
support and Kate looked like she could do with someone to lean
on.
    Doctor T picked up Kaylee’s file. “What
you’re feeling is perfectly normal. When you’re ready to speak to
Kaylee, let me know. I’ll be in the ward.” He gave them a
reassuring smile and left the conference room. Tom and Anna
followed a few minutes later.
    Kate hung back, waiting for Dan. “Thank
you.”
    He stared at her in silence. He didn’t think
she’d noticed or wanted the support he was offering. But when her
chin trembled he knew the pain she was feeling ran deeper