Chapter XII: The Good News

Dara pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyes. It wasn't sinking in, she'd been trying to study since arriving at the hospital at eight, but the words were blurring together and seemed to bounce off her brain.

’Superinfections: the overgrowth of Staphylocci, Pseudomonas or fungi…The overgrowth of what?’

Her uncle and Sanghyun were just a few feet away, talking and laughing as they worked on the puzzle of some large dog. It felt good to see Sanghyun enjoying his uncle.

She wanted to close her pharmacology book and join them. She was too stressed, too tired, and too worried to absorb anything remotely difficult. But time was so short. If she could just hold on long enough to pass her finals, just ten more days.

She lifted the book again and took a deep breath and forced herself to keep reading.

‘The basic human T cell is a-‘

"Ms. Park."

Dr. Forte stuck his head into the room, causing them all to look up.

"It's Mrs. Kwon now." Lee volunteered.

"Dara got married yesterday."

The doctor raised his eyebrows.

"That's wonderful news. Congratulations!"

Dara willed herself not to blush to the roots of her hair.

"Thank you."

"Can I speak with you for a moment alone, please?' He asked.

A chill swept through Dara as she caught her uncle's eye.

What now? Every new hope the doctors had held out for her over the past year had been crushed in its turn. When they first found the tumors in Sanghyun's abdomen, they thought surgery would take care of the problem. The cancer spread to his spleen. They tried chemotherapy, hoping for a remission, but the disease only paused before marching on to his pancreas. Next came radiation and the discovery of more tumors, these on his liver. Another operation, more chemotherapy, more radiation.The result? Cancerous cells in his spinal fluid. Now they were facing a bone marrow transplant. If that didn't work, Dara knew they were at the very end of the line.

Lee drew Sanghyun's attention back to their puzzle.

Dara followed Dr. Forte out of the room and down the wide hall to a small cubicle that served as his office. Perching on the hard plastic chair, Dara clamped her hands together to keep them from shaking.

"I've got good news." He said, smiling as he took his own seat behind a small cluttered desk.

Dara relaxed, but only fractionally. With a child as sick as Sanghyun, good news was always a relative term.

"We've found a donor."

‘A donor!’Fresh hope too strong for the scars of the past experience to temper or jade, charged through Dara like a lightning bolt.

They had a donor.

At last.

"That's wonderful!" She breathed.

"How?Through the National Marrow Donor Program?"

"Actually, he's a local."

"I've been posting notes at school. Begging people to come over and be tested. It's probably a student at the University."

"Most likely, he's about the right age, twenty-one."

"What's his name?"

"Kang Daesung."

A total stranger was going to help her save her brother. His generosity awed her.

"I'm grateful to him." She said, knowing the words were hardly adequate.

"When do you want to do the transplant?"

Footsteps padded down the hall outside. A man and woman glanced inside as they passed. The doctor stood and shut the door.

"First we've got to up the chemotherapy and radiation treatments to kill all the cells in Sanghyun's blood. That will take a few days."

Dara nodded. She knew about this. The treatments would destroy Sanghyun's own marrow, but that couldn't be helped. Sanghyun's body had to start over using the healthy stem cells-the blood cells that have matured in the bone marrow- he would receive from Mr. Kang.

"Are you thinking of doing it next week?"

"Or shortly thereafter."

"And this donor, Mr. Kang, he matches all six antigens?"

The doctor looked faintly uncomfortable.

"Actually he matches five of the six, but it's a minor mismatch."

"A minor mismatch?"

"A technical term. It means there's hope for-"

"It means he's not a perfect match." Dara's heart sank.

"It won't work." She said, shaking her head.

"We have to put as many odds in Sanghyun's favor as we possibly can. We have to keep looking for a donor."

"As you know, that's a lengthy process. We've narrowed the search to a handful of potential donors, but they still have to be contacted and scheduled to some in for further testing. Then we have to wait for the results to come back. And if we find a match, we have to fly them in; none of the potential donors are within three hundred miles from here." He frowned.

"And we're running out of time."

Ice-cold fear blasted through Dara's veins.

"The cancer is moving that fast?"

"I'm afraid so. His recent blood tests and x-rays have me concerned."

Dara squeezed her eyes shut. Her little brother. What she would do to save her little brother. If only there was something she could do!

"You're Sanghyun's lawful guardian, I need your permission to proceed." The doctor was saying. He shoved a piece of paper full of fine print towards her.

"You've already paid for the transplant, so that's no longer an issue."

He consulted his day-planer.

"Why don't we schedule it for a week from Tuesday?"

Dara stared at the paragraphs of legalese and the signature line below it. In order for the transplanted marrow to feel at home in Sanghyun's body, the leukocyte antigens had to match as closely as possible. The closer the match, the less trouble Sanghyun would have with the donation. Mainly, graft-rejection.

He could die from those complications. He could die while waiting for a better match. It was a decision no one should have to make.

"Can I have tonight to think about it?" She asked.

Before med school, she would have taken the doctor's advice and signed on the dotted line immediately. But she'd learned a lot in the past two years; she'd learned just how human and fallible doctors really were.

Even though he was probably frustrated that she wouldn't simply sign the release, the lines of Dr. Forte's face creased into a long-suffering smile.

"Of course. Just let me know in the morning."

"I love you, Sanghyun." Dara said, staring down at her wonderful brother.

Though sleepy, the boy scrunched his face and grumbled.

"I know Dara-noona."

"Don't leave me, okay kid?"

"I won't, and I'm not a kid." Sanghyun's eyes dropped.

"Promise?"

Sanghyun made a quiet murmur of assent before his lids closed.

Dara rubbed the back of her brother's hand and let the tears gathering behind her eyes and slide down her cheeks. They were alone, and it was late. Her uncle had gone back to the house for the night. Dara guessed Jiyong was there by now as well. He'd called earlier to say his parents had arrived home a week early. He was going to go see them and his sibling, but she hadn't heard from him since.

She should probably call to keep up the charade of their new marriage, for uncleLee's sake, but after she'd talked to Dr. Forte, Dara didn't have it in her to do any acting. She was too busy trying to decide which of the options open to her would provide her brother with the best chance at life.

She'd asked her uncle and CL what they thought, but neither of them had been able to give her an answer. As a retired doctor, Lee was able to understand the risks, but could not give her any idea what she should do. She was on her own with this. And all she wanted to do was sit and stare at her brother, memorize every detail of his face so she'd never forget, just in case she guessed wrong.

Jaejoong. For a moment, Dara's ex-husband crossed her mind, and she almost called him. He was like a father to Sanghyun, more than a brother. He should be helping her make these kinds of decisions. But he wouldn't know what to tell her, anyway. She was grasping at straws, looking for an easier path.

"I thought I would find you here."

At the sound of Jiyong's voice, Dara wiped her cheeks on the sleeve of her cotton-knit top and turned to see him standing in the doorway, dressed casually in a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt.

Fortunately the lights were off, the room lit only by the glowing dials on the medial equipment along one side of the bed and a small night-light on the far wall. She doubted he'd be able to tell she'd been crying.

"How are your parents?" She managed to say, keeping her voice low so as to not wake Sanghyun.

"Fine. They had a great time on their vacation. They want to meet you that they do. I told the whole family we eloped this weekend."

She kept her face averted just in case he could see more than she thought.

"I bet they loved that."

"They were more than a little surprised, but it was my brother and sister who were the most shocked" He chuckled.

"They couldn't figure out why I never mentioned you when I had dinner with them a little over a week ago."

"I'm sure they're certain you've made a terrible mistake."

"I assured them that I haven't, that I did."

Dara had her own opinion about that, but she held her tongue.

"Where did you tell them I was today?"

He settled himself in the seat on the other side of the bed.

"Here. I explained about Sanghyun. Otherwise, it would have seemed too odd that you weren't with me. Besides, the closer we stay to the truth, the better off we'll be."

He nodded toward Sanghyun.

"How is he?"

Dara had to clear before she could answer.

"Fine."

Hoping that he would tell her whatever he had to say and leave. Or maybe this visit was strictly about impressing her uncle. Well, Lee had left the hospital. He could go home too, and get some sleep. Dara didn't have the energy to be civil to anyone, to deny the ache inside her that longed for someone to hold her. That longed for-

‘Forget it, Don't want. Don't feel. He loves the beautiful woman in the picture.’

"It's getting late." She said to stop his focused regard.

"Aren't you tried?"

"Probably not as tired as you are. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"No. Did you move in today?"

"I didn't have time. I'll do it tomorrow. I did swing by my house to get my razor and clothes, so I can get ready f