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Keep it together. Keep it together, Ron. You need to remain strong for your family.I repeated to myself in my head. My eyes remained closed while I envisioned different possibilities.
The hospital required us to come today so they could give us the results of the tests they had. The tests were to precisely pinpoint the root cause of everything going wrong with Maddy. It could be anything as far as I knew; the bones, her muscles, her brain, her heart. Just thinking about those important organs made me shudder.God, please. I cannot lose another person. I beg you. My daughter needs to live her life to the fullest.
Even if I had to give my life for hers, I would. She had suffered so much. Someone shouldn't be born with this many problems. Money becomes meaningless if you don't have the health to enjoy it.
Additionally, I could only see Maddy's physical health, but only God knows how strained her mental health had become because of the subsequent and consistent medical issues she had to endure.
My daughter loved acting strong and unbothered, but in the end, she was still just a teenager. She needed support from her father and didn't get that for many years, and when I was willing to give that, it felt too late. So, for most of her life, she had been without a father or mother.
We weren't just on our way to the hospital to receive the results, but the diagnosis as well as a solution. When I asked them what to do, they said they would rather explain to me in person and that I should come with Maddy, of course.
Maryam said no way in hell she wouldn't be coming to support us. I knew I shouldn't have been too obvious and relaxed. My life could never go that way. Things had been looking up too long and now life has brought me back down to Earth.
The fantasy period was over, and the honeymoon had come to an end. Now, I return to the everyday struggle, and I was sure it would be even worse for Maddy. At least for me, even though I failed miserably in my personal life, I achieved success after success. Business-wise, my career blossomed, and I could, for a while, console myself with these accolades. Maryam did well in school, sure, but I wasn't sure that felt the same. And to a teenager, the personal seems way more important than other things. Add to that the fact that she had to keep herself a secret, to an extent, because of her affiliation with me. It would probably make it harder for her to make friends.
Maryam’s hand rested on mine, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her staring at me. She leaned in and whispered in my ear. “There's nothing wrong with being afraid; that's why you lean on people. I'm here for you and Maddy's here for you as we are for her.”
I smiled a little and, in turn, I placed my hand on Maddy’s. To my surprise, her hand also vibrated even after I held it in mine. I hadn't looked at her because I got scared. Perhaps, I turned and saw her afraid? That could make me panic as well and I needed to keep a strong appearance.
Finally, my eyes raised to look at her.
Dread.
That was the only thing I saw on her face. Maddy didn’t even try to hide it. I squeezed her hand tighter, nodding. Her smile quivered, but she grinned nonetheless, nodding too. She understood what I was saying even without us exchanging words. Positive affirmation. I had been trying to adopt Maryam’s approach, so I chose to use it in this circumstance, telling myself it would be all right. Everything should be fine. The doctors only wanted to see us to give us some good news and the solution.
When we reached the hospital, all three of us came out from the back seat, with the driver going to get the car parked. I held my daughter’s shoulder and Maryam held her hand.
“It's going to be fine, Maddy. Everything will turn out good,” Maryam said to her, rubbing her hand on hers.
Even if it didn't go well, I'd be here with my daughter until the end of time. I wasn't going to let her go through this alone but right now the best thing to do was to think positively because this couldn't be just about me, but my daughter's life as well. Maddy will be fine. She'll be okay. The worst is behind us. l continued reaffirming in my mind as we entered the hospital.
Thankfully, this time we didn't have to wait after introducing myself to the secretary who already knew me from my numerous appearances at the hospital over the years. She recognized Maddy too and quickly called the doctor. Dr. Grey, our family doctor, came out.
His general demeanor looked happy and that put me at ease a bit. Still, my body remained hot. I needed to know what was up.
"Thank you for coming, Mr. Razor. Maddy, it's nice to see you again," he said in an upbeat tone.
"Cut to the chase, Doctor. What is happening? Is everything okay with my daughter?"
He smiled with a quick nod. "We've found the cause of her problems-"
Before letting him finish, I fist pump to the air. "Yes, fuck yes!"
"But that's not all." Oh my God. Why couldn't I just have this? Why did there have to be a caveat? Now it came time for the other shoe to drop. I groaned in dissatisfaction, glaring at Dr. Grey. "We need you to come inside for a consultation."
Dr. Grey knew Maryam from the last time he came to the house, so he knew that she was family at this point. The three of us followed him into the room where we could see another doctor, Dr. Franklin, the one who met us the first time when we came for the tests. The test results were out, and he'd been working with Dr. Grey to understand what the problem was… and the best way to go about solving it.
"Hello, Mr. Razor." He stood up after seeing me, stretching his hand for a handshake. I accepted it and he shook Maddy's, then Maryam's after me. We all sat down. Dr. Grey stood next to Dr. Franklin at the other side of the table.
"So, we called you here because we needed to tell you this in person. We find that it's better to deliver sensitive news face-to-face," Dr. Franklin explained.
"What is the news?"
"It's okay, honey." Maryam placed a hand on my arm, trying to calm me down. "What he's trying to say is we would like to know how the issue can be resolved."
"Sure. Maddy has a concurrent problem that comes from an unbelievable deficiency in white blood cells. This tends to affect her bone marrow and, in turn, her bones. Her digestive system, circulatory system, and even her brain is affected. That is why, sometimes, she'd get a migraine, and other times she'd get a fever. Sometimes, she might faint. We knew about the white blood cell issue but that wasn't the main problem, the way it had affected her brain was the issue, but we couldn't pinpoint how to stop it. We now both have the equipment and skill to do so," Dr. Grey further explained.
To me, all this sounded like annoying mumbo-jumbo, but I listened attentively. I got the general gist. Now, I needed to know how we could solve it. "It's her blood, right? So do we need a transfusion?" I asked.
