By Appointment Only by Marianne Evans

Author:Marianne Evans [Evans, Marianne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781611162837
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

5

Mandy has leukemia.

Three words. That’s all it took to sweep solid ground from beneath Matt’s feet. He wavered, but his hold on his sister stayed tight and true, a combined power facing a storm of life-wrenching magnitude.

All he could force out was a single, hoarse word. “No.”

Stephanie sniffed hard and lifted her chin. Ever a Bellinger, she became stalwart and resolute. She plunged ahead. “Our doctor delivered the diagnosis last week. Until then, we were going through test after test, and we had no idea what was going on. That’s why we weren’t at the victory celebration. You would have known something was wrong immediately, and we had no answers until now. No battle plan.”

“So what! I still could have been there for you guys.”

“To do what? Worry without answers? Stew? You didn’t need that. You’ve worked so hard for this moment. I knew the news would tear you up, and after everything you’ve done to achieve this.” She gestured to encompass the office, and its grand view of the capitol building. “We didn’t want anything to detract.”

He clutched her hands. “Stephanie.” He fought against the lump in his throat. “Stephanie, nothing is more important than the people I love. Nothing. I wish you would have told me, and let me help. I could have been there for you and Rick—I could have been a shoulder for you to lean on, someone to talk to.”

Her lips trembled, and she touched his cheek tenderly. “You’re doing all of that and more, right here and right now. I know you’re there for me, like you always have been. Besides, all of us are still coping. We’re still trying to process everything. For the past several weeks, our lives have been nothing short of a nightmare that you can’t quite leave behind or wake up from. Plus, the more I talk about it, the more real it becomes. That’s part of the reason for my silence, too.” Her voice wobbled, and she cleared her throat. “I can’t stand the idea of losing her, Matt.”

They studied one another in silence for a time. Then, in a heartfelt rush, Matt lifted to a stand and bent to give his sister a long, solid hug. He turned to pace off excess adrenaline, almost afraid to ask the next question that came to mind, but he had to know what was happening. He needed to start coping and processing as well. “Tell me what we’re up against.”

“The doctor calls it acute promyelocytic leukemia. APL for short.” Matt scrubbed the back of his neck; he shook his head. Stephanie was absolutely right. Absorbing this sucker punch felt surreal.

“She’s been so weak lately, and the weakness caused her to really slow up. Plus, she doesn’t eat much. She’d take a typical tumble on the lacrosse playing field and end up with these big, awful looking bruises and didn’t heal right. Our pediatrician performed a slew of tests, and her white cell count was way off. So were her platelets. The rest of the official analysis turned into a blur.

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