“I’m dizzy,” he says, and I nod at Mallory, who gets him some juice.
“How about you drink some juice?” she says and hands him the cup after Sarah sits him back on the bed.
He takes the juice and drinks it. “Did he eat this morning?”
“A little bit. I made eggs and toast, but he just picked at it.”
“I have some Jell-O around here,” Mallory says, going out of the room and then coming back with orange Jell-O. “Got the last one.”
Sarah opens it and spoons him some as he takes little bites. “You need to eat to keep the strength up,” I tell him. “To get stronger than Daddy,” I whisper, and Sarah’s phone rings.
“It’s Daddy.” She smiles at him, and then hands Jack the phone so he can press the green button. He holds the phone in front of him while it connects, and I see Zack’s face pop onto the screen
“Hey, buddy,” he says, smiling, and I can see he is panting more or less. “I just got off the ice. How you doing?”
“I’m good. I got dizzy,” he tells him, and I see Zack’s eyebrows shoot together and worry fills his face.
“He just had his blood drawn, and I don’t think he had much to eat for breakfast, but I’m going to monitor him a bit before he goes home,” I tell him and then Jack turns the phone so I can see Zack.
“Daddy, Dr. Denise said I’m stronger than you,” he tells him. “And I didn’t even cry.”
“Did she now?” he says, the worry lifting a bit from his face.
“She did, and I showed her my muscles, and she said they were so big.” He laughs. “And they called me Jumping Jack.”
“It sounds like you’re having a lot of fun.” He just nods his head. “I’ll be back tonight late, but we can have breakfast together tomorrow.”
“Will you make me funny eggs?’ he asks him, and Zack just nods while he drinks his Gatorade.
“I have to go, buddy. I’ll call you later before the game, okay?” he says “I love you,” and disconnects.
“You feeling better?” I ask him, and he nods. “Let’s try getting up again.”
Sarah picks him up and places him on the floor, and this time, he’s okay. He walks over to me and slips his hand in mine. “Are there lots of kids here?” he asks, and I just nod at him as we walk down the hall, peeking into Evie’s room. I introduce him to all the kids, and before long, he is playing Uno with Evelina, another little girl his age with no hair.
“Are you new here?” Evie asks him.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I just came to give blood.”
“That’s too bad. They have yummy ice cream here,” she says, and I laugh, walking out.
The results come back faster than expected, and I see that there hasn’t been a change in his T-cell count, which is good. “Hey, you’re still here.” I hear Steve say when he comes to the nurses’ station.
“I was waiting for some test results.”
“Good?” he asks me, and I lean back in the chair.
“There hasn’t been a change in his T-cell count, so that’s good. It means he’s stable of sorts.”
“You thinking he’s going to be a good candidate for the new medicine?”
“Yeah,” I say, thinking about everything. “You have a chance to read his file yet?”
“I did, and I have to say I’m not as sure as you on this one,” he says. “They did two rounds, and nothing changed. Not a single thing. In fact, he went from normal to high risk.”
“I want to at least try,” I tell him, and he just nods.
“We can’t save everyone,” he says and looks down, “no matter how much we try.”
“His mother told him that she doesn’t want to see him without a hat on because it makes him look too sick.” I watch his face as he takes in the words. “I’ve seen some doozies of mothers come and go, but that one takes the fucking cake.” I sit up. “Makes me want to fucking try everything.”
He doesn’t say anything; he just nods his head. “I’d hate to be there if she comes for a visit,” he says and walks away.
“No kidding,” I say under my breath and then go to find Jack.
“We need to go, Jack,” Sarah says, and he gets up and walks out of the room, saying bye to everyone.
“Dr. Denise”—he smiles at me as he walks—“Sarah said we can get McDonald’s.”
I smile and look at her. “I told him that yesterday, and he didn’t forget.”
“That sounds like so much fun.”
“You want to come with us?” he asks me, and I’m about to say no when he says, “Please.”
“I’d love to,” I say. “I’m going to go grab my things, and then I’ll meet you at the elevators.”