Blind Justice is back with part 5. As it is a little over halfway done, it is time to up the ante a little. Hope everyone is enjoying it and if it is new to you, feel free to start from the beginning parts which you can find listed at the bottom of this page.
In part 4, Steve had bonded with a little girl named Maggie who was in the same hospital as he was after he had an opp go horribly bad. Maggie was fighting cancer and was a joyous sweet girl that had stumbled on to Steve’s room, and they started a sweet friendship.
In this part, Maggie has not been to visit lately. Steve becomes concerned and sets off to find out why. What will he find and how will it affect him. What will he do about it?
Part 5
One day Maggie didn’t show up. Curious, Steve got out of bed and walked over to the nurse’s station. Nurse Wilson was on duty and she had no good news for him.
“Maggie’s condition changed dramatically last night. She needs this bone marrow transplant urgently. But there’s still no donor in sight.” She sighed.
“Let me try. I mean is there a doctor who could check my blood or whatever is needed?” Steve said spontaneously.
Nurse Wilson got up, “of course.”
“What do I have to do?”
“First, you complete a short health questionnaire and sign a form stating you understand what being on the bone marrow donor registry means. Then you give a small blood sample or mouth swab to be tested for your tissue type and this information is added to the registry.”
“That’s all?”
“For the moment,” she replied and told him where he had to go to for the whole procedure.
Steve’s heart hammered in his chest. Maybe he could help the little girl to regain her health. She’d done so much for him by talking him through that moment when he had thought he wouldn’t be able to go on. He hoped he could return the favor.
But his dreams shattered when he got the results: no match.
“Not this time Sir,” the doctor said regretfully, “but who knows you’d probably save someone else’s life in the future.”
He patted Steve’s shoulder and left. Steve followed him outside and asked the someone at the nurse’s station for Maggie’s room number.
As her room was darkened he was able to take his glasses off. Still, everything was blurry but it was getting better every day. He went over to her bed. Sat down carefully, because he thought she was asleep.
But she wasn’t. “Hi, Steve,” she said weakly, “you come to rescue me?” she tried to smile.
“I wish I could,” he said in a choked voice.
“Never mind, I’m sure you tried the best you could, didn’t you?”
He nodded yes, took the tiny cold hand into his and squeezed it gently.
“Where is Tristan?”
“Downstairs, he looked so miserable I thought he could need some distraction and so I asked him to get me some Twinkies. I love Twinkies,” her voice faded. She closed her eyes.
“Maggie?” he called her name softly.
She fluttered her eyes open, “I’m still here. I’m just so tired. Could you stay for a while so I don’t have to be alone?”
Steve sat down beside her, still holding her small hand. The strong Maggie who had skipped into his room mere days ago was gone. The little girl in front of him seemed so fragile and vulnerable. He closed his sore eyes. His mind was spinning. In the past few weeks even his dreams were woven with bits and pieces of reality which made sleeping very uneasy. He was bruised and battered and defeated. There was nothing he could do for this little girl except sit at her side, holding her hand.
Tristan sneaked into the room.
“Hi Steve,” he whispered. “Glad you came around. She was asking for you.”
Steve put Maggie’s hand gently on her stomach and got up.
“Hello Tristan. I’m … I’m so sorry. But there’s still hope, isn’t it?”
Tristan shrugged.
“Her condition has never been quite this bad before. I doubt …” his voice failed.
Silence filled the small, sterile room. Tristan turned away, leaned his forehead against the painted concrete wall, and hit it with his fist. Steve felt more helpless than ever. He wasn’t able to say a word. So he put his hand heavy on Tristan’s shoulder.
Later, Steve decided to visit the hospital’s chapel. He wasn’t into praying. So he sat there in silence and let his inner voice have a monologue with whoever was listening.
Stay tuned for Part 6 next week
Story and fanart credit writingcreature
Catch up on the previous parts
Blind Justice Part 1
Blind Justice Part 2
Blind Justice Part 3
Blind Justice Part 4
Am enjoying this..
Good to hear!
Those question marks are supposed to hearts, ????
I know I’ve said this before but I wish this were a book. I read to the end. Very good writing here! ??
Thanks for reading. Glad you like the story.
Ok – now I’m crying! Steve can’t loose someone else, he just can’t.