As though being sucked out of all energy, I slumped into a chair and was lost in thoughts.
It wasn’t until the doctor came out from Summer’s ward that I snapped out from my daze when he said, “Can we all please proceed to my office?”
As Cameron helped me up, I noticed that Zachary’s expression was rather grim and appeared deep in thought.
As we all took a seat in the doctor’s office, Cameron asked anxiously, “Doctor, what are we going to do now that we can’t find suitable bone marrow for Summer?”
He looked at us and slowly explained, “Bone marrow transplant is a major operation, therefore it’s imperative that we find a compatible donor, or we will risk dangerous level of organ rejection post- operation. There are increasing numbers of acute leukemia patients for the past two years, but suitable bone marrow donors are still very rare. I can understand your concerns, however, the only thing we can do for Summer right now is to continue her chemotherapy. In the meantime, we will keep searching for matching bone marrow.”
Zachary asked, “Let’s say we have no luck in finding her a suitable donor, how long does she have?”
The doctor was a little rattled by the stone-faced Zachary and had chosen his words carefully when he replied, “If we stick to our current treatment plan, her prognosis is actually quite positive. She will have at least three more years.”
“Alright. I understand.” Zachary nodded before he stood up abruptly and left the room without uttering another word.
Cameron was panic-stricken and she quickly turned to me. “Letty, quick! You have to stop your father. We haven’t gotten to that stage yet!”
Despite being puzzled by what she said, considering the urgency in her tone, I stood up and hurried after him. Zachary was dialling on his phone as he waited in front of an elevator.
I called after him, “Dad, what’s going on? Where are you going?”
He turned to me with a self-reproach look on his face. “Sienna, I know you can’t forgive us for what we did to your baby years ago. But don’t you worry now. I won’t let anything happen to another child of yours. I’ll do whatever it takes to save Summer.”
I was still as a loss of what he was planning to do as he was about to take off in a grave manner.
I grabbed onto his arm before he could leave. “Dad, hold on for a second. Anthony is already working on ways to save Summer too. Don’t you worry, she’ll be okay.”
Nonetheless, my words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Just then, the elevator door opened. Zachary stepped into the elevator and stopped me from following suit. “Stay here and look after your mother. I’m just going to look for a better doctor and I’ll be back soon.”
Right after the elevator door was shut before me, Cameron hurried over and her expression grew more desperate when she didn’t see Zachary. “Sienna, where’s your father? You should have stopped him.
He’s onto something dangerous!”
“He said he was going to look for another doctor and asked me to stay back.”
Cameron was frantically pressing at the elevator button and her voice was choking up as she said, “If he really was looking for another doctor, couldn’t he just do it through the phone? I can’t let him do this, not after he’s finally decided to settle down and live a normal life with us. If we let him do this, there’ll be no turning back for all of us.”
Sensing that something was off, I looked at her and my jaw was tightening. “Mom, there’s no way I can catch up to him now. But I’ll get Anthony to stop him. While I’m on the phone, you’re gonna have to get yourself together, and then tell me what really is going on, okay?”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she finally nodded. After I contacted Anthony and told him to get in touch with Zachary, I helped Cameron sit down on a bench in the corridor.
After the woman finally collected herself, she slowly spoke, “My dear, have you heard of organ trading?
I was stunned by her revelation as cold sweats started to form on my forehead. Shaking my head, I continued to ask, “Mom, what’s going on?”
Wiping the tears away from her eyes, the woman slowly explained, “Sienna, there’s nothing in this world you can’t buy with enough money and power, including human organs. Your father started thinking about it when Summer started falling sick. He used to work with mafia, so he knows his way around this black market. I tried to talk him out of this, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Now that our lives are finally back to normal, and you are expecting another child, it’s just too much risk to involve both our families in this business.”
I took a few moments to calm my racing heart. “Mom, has Dad found one?”
Cameron looked at me with her eyes widened in intense fear. “My dear, you can’t be seriously considering it! These organs, they are all harvested with illegal means!”
“Mom, that’s not what I meant. I’m just trying to figure out where Dad could be heading that’s all. Whatever leads he has right now, we have to discuss this matter together before deciding what to do.”
She nodded, but her body did not stop trembling.
When Cameron was calmer and more collected, she started to analyze the situation, “Your father had washed his hands off this business many years ago. But starting a few days ago, he’s been secretly contacting a few of his old buddies regarding this matter. I overheard from his conversations that the black market, as well as the operations, are only carried out in A City. So, your dad must be on his way to the airport to fly over there and meet with the dealer.”
Upon hearing which, I made another phone call to Anthony for him to intercept Zachary at the airport. I turned to Cameron and asked, “Who else knows about this?”
She shook her head. “Just the two of us. I didn’t want him to take the risk. If found out, our whole family will be done for.”
Sensing that my silence might mean otherwise, Cameron tried to probe, “Sienna, tell me, if your father found both compatible bone marrow and kidney for Summer, would you have agreed to it?”
Her question was loaded with massive moral conundrums; my head was filled with many questions to which I didn’t have immediate answers. I lowered my head to look at my phone, at a loss for words.
Cameron grew more anxious as she grabbed onto my arm and said grievously, “My dear, listen to me, you can’t do this. Summer is such an adorable kid and we all love her dearly. But you can’t gamble your future with this matter. It would have been okay if this only involves me and your father, since we’ve had our share of lives at this age. But things are different for you and Anthony. You’re finally expecting another child and you still have a long way to go. As for Summer, we may just have to accept that this is her destiny. Please promise me you won’t make a rash decision on this.”
Cameron’s concerns were valid, and anyone with a sound logic should arrive at the same conclusion. However, I had long regarded Summer as my own daughter, so the only logical sense as a mother was to save my daughter by whatever means necessary.
I looked at her and sighed. “Mom, Summer is my daughter. There’s no way I’ll give up on her. If the dealer manages to find a donor from a clean source, why can’t we give Summer a chance to live?”
Cameron’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind? There’s no way that kind of things will be clean!”
I knew there was no way that I could sway her mind right now, but I couldn’t help but imagine a scenario where someone passed on from an accident and we could offer a sum of money to her family. It would not have brought her life back, but in a way, parts of her spirit got to live on. The concept of organ donation at death might sound cruel to some people, but if the alternative for the body was to be cremated, leaving nothing but ashes behind, why not let them save another life?
“Mom, let’s not talk about this right now. Can you please keep Summer company while I try to locate Dad and talk to him?” It’s too early to dismiss any remote chance Summer may have.
Cameron did not sound fully convinced. “My dear, whatever you do, please be mindful of the potential consequences they may have on both our families. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I do.”
I left the hospital and tried to reach Anthony by phone, but it was engaged. I then attempted to call Zachary’s number, also to no avail. I was feeling rather helpless when my phone rang.
Seeing Armond’s name on my caller ID only made me feel more frustrated. My tone was more than agitated when I answered his call, “What do you want?”
Instead of being offended, an audible laugh rang from the other end of the line as the man spoke, “Sensing from your impatient tone, I suppose you ran into some trouble. Why don’t you come and have a chat with me? I may be able to cheer you up.”
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll hang up now.” My patience was running thin for this pervert.
He sighed and said, “Hold on a second, I was told that Zachary is on his way to A City. I’m wondering whether that’s because Jared’s bone marrow is not compatible with Summer’s. If that’s the case, then I suppose he’s heading toward A City to search for…”
The man had now successfully riled me up. “Armond Murphy, what kind of a sicko are you? And what do you want from me?”
“I just told you, I may have some information that’s useful to you so that your daughter will stop suffering from chemotherapy.” His tone suddenly took on a serious note, “There’s no need to dismiss me just yet. I know exactly what you’re looking for and I may even have means to secure some for you. So, what do you say about meeting up?”
I paused for a brief moment to ponder on his words. Maybe what he said wasn’t all bullsh*t.
“Fine. I can meet you up.”
He seemed to be smiling approvingly when he replied, “I thought you were going to reject me again. Great, I’ll send you the address after this. Don’t be late, or I’ll be sad.”
After hanging up the call, I tried Anthony’s number again. Finally, he answered the phone and there were some traffic noises from his end.
“Anthony, is everything okay over there?”
“I’m stuck in traffic.” Anthony sounded a little flustered. “But don’t you worry; I’ve managed to make contact with Mr. Moore. He promised that he won’t be making the trip to A City for now.”
I heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s great. Can you please take him to the hospital later? I’ll call Mom right now to let her know.”
I gave Cameron a quick update on the phone before receiving a text message with the address where I was supposed to meet Armond.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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