Chapter 15:

Bo walked back down the long hallway and waited outside of the room where they continued to monitor Matthew. Dr. Ortega walked out of the room, “Did you make your phone calls?”

“Yes, thank you for the use of your office. Now, what do I have to do to get tested?”

 

Dr. Ortega motioned for an orderly who was standing off to the side, “Tome por favor Senor Buchanan hacia abajo al laboratorio.” (Please take Mr. Buchanan to the lab.)

“Si, el medico.” (Yes, doctor.)

Bo walked back up to Matthew’s room and waited outside for the doctor to come out. He was pacing back and forth when he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Senor Buchanan,” he turned around, “You may go in now and sit with him if you like.”

Bo smiled at the nurse and followed her into the room. He walked over and sat down beside Matthew’s bed. He looked around the room at all the machines and monitors that were keeping their little boy alive, “How is he?”

“He’s holding his own. You have one determined little boy.”

“Is he responding to the medication like you had hoped?”

“So far he has, and I have some more good news. You were a perfect match for the transplant; we also have found another match for Matthew, a young boy who was unfortunately killed in an accident an hour ago. We can use his liver for the transplant or…”

Bo looked down at Matthew and back up at the doctor, “No, I will be the donor. He’s my son. It’s my responsibility.”

“I would be derelict in my duty if I didn’t warn you about the dangers and complications of being a donor…”

Bo interrupted him once again. “I understand your concern, Dr. Ortega but like I said he is my son and my responsibility. I’m doing this, however I do have one question.”

“Ask me anything.”

“Can we set it up for tomorrow, I mean can he wait that long? I’d like to be able to try and wait until his mother gets here, but if he can’t wait than let’s do it right now, I’m ready.”

“Like I said earlier your son is responding well to the medication and there haven’t been any declines in his counts. That being said however, there haven’t been any increases so the transplant will still be necessary, but he can wait until tomorrow, if he wasn’t able to wait for the surgery we would have had no choice but to go with the other donor as your body needs time to prepare for the transplant. We’ll schedule it for 9 a.m.? That will give you the time you need to fast and prepare for the surgery.”

“Thank you, Dr. Ortega, for everything.”

“It’s been my pleasure, Mr. Buchanan. Now, I’ll leave you be. Please get some rest; it is important that you rest. Just have them page me if there is anything you need.”

“Thank you again,” Bo waited until the doctor was gone and made his way over to the bed. He reached out and took Matthew’s hand in his, “Hey there, champ. It’s me, your old man. You were such a brave boy today. I’m so proud of you,” he paused for a moment; reaching out to brush some hair off his forehead, “Your mom will be here soon.” He looked around the room and stared for a moment at the monitor registering every heartbeat. “You just need to rest, little man, and when you wake up your mom will be here, and Grandma and Grandpa and your sister will be here, but for now you just rest, okay?” Bo stood up and lay down in the bed next to Matthew. He listened to the whirring of the machines and soon his eyes grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep, his son’s hand still resting in his.

Nora found them in the exact same position early the next morning. She walked over to the bed and kissed Matthew’s forehead. She brushed a few strands of hair out of his eyes and then made her way over to the other side of the bed. She leaned across and placed a soft kiss on Bo’s lips. The feel of her lips on his caused his eyes to slowly flutter open, “Hi ya, handsome.”

“Right back at ya gorgeous,” He carefully got up off the bed and took her in his arms. They held onto each other for a few moments. He stepped out of their embrace and looked over at Matthew and back at Nora, “I’m sorry.”

She reached out and laid her hand on his cheek, “What are you sorry for?”

“I promised you I’d keep him safe and that I’d always protect him. He’s lying in this bed because of me.”

“Bo, you aren’t responsible for the accident.”

“No…no, I’m not responsible for that, but I am responsible for the fact that he was even here. I should’ve seen it. I should’ve known that Gabrielle was close to the edge. I knew how devastated she was and how angry she was over Max’s death and what happened between you and me. I knew she could be vindictive and vengeful. I should’ve…”

Nora placed her fingers on his lips to silence him, “Bo we’re both responsible for hurting Gabrielle, but that does not excuse what she did,” She thought back to the day before and how she had almost given into her anger and desire for revenge, “She let her anger and her desire for revenge make her desperate and she took our son to hurt us. She kept him from us for months, Bo. She would still have him if she hadn’t gotten over confident and unknowingly gave us the clue we would need to find him. Please…”

Their conversation was interrupted when Dr. Ortega walked into the room, “Ah…you must be Matthew’s mother. Your husband”, Bo and Nora just looked at each other and back over at the doctor neither taking the time to correct his mistake, “said you would be here this morning. I’m Dr. Ortega; I have been the doctor in charge of your son’s care.”

She shakes his hand and look over at Matthew, “Thank you very much for all you’ve done for our son.”

“You’re very welcome.” He looks over at Bo. “So Mr. Buchanan, are you ready? Everything is ready for 9:00.”

Nora looked over at Bo, “Ready, for what?”

Dr. Ortega realized that Bo hadn’t had the chance to tell Nora about the surgery so he decided to excuse himself, “I’ll give you two a few minutes. Just come on out when you’re ready.”

‘Thank you. I’ll be out in a few minutes.” Bo waited until the door closed before he took her hand and led her over to the chair beside the bed. He had her sit down in the chair and he knelt down in front of her, “Nora, honey. I’m going to be Matthew’s donor. They did the test last night and they found that I’m a perfect match. There was also another donor found, a little boy Matthew’s age that was killed in a car accident…”

“If there’s another donor that is a match for Matthew, why are you doing this?”

“I have to…”

“Why…why do you have to do this when there’s another option?”

“Because,” he pauses for a moment his emotions threatening to overcome him, “I have to do this because he’s my son, because I wasn’t there for him for the first six years of his life. Now I have the opportunity to be there for him, to give of myself to save his life,” he takes her hand in his and brings it up to his lips, “Nora, I have to do this, can you see that? Can you see that this is just something I have to do?”

“You are an amazing man, Bo Buchanan and I love you so much.”

She began to cry the fear of losing them both overwhelming her. They had lost Max due to complications after the exact same surgery and that loss and pain was still fresh. Bo knew exactly what she was thinking about, “Nora, what happened with Max is not going to happen.”

“But you can’t promise me can you? Can you?”

“No, honey, I can’t promise you that. I wish I could, but you just have to have faith, faith in our future.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried against his shoulder, “You better come back to us, Bo Buchanan.”

He stood up and pulled her up out of the chair with him. He kissed her, their kisses lingering for a few moments before there was a knock on the door. They turned and looked over at the orderly waiting to take Bo down to the OR. He turned back and kissed Nora once more, “I’ve got to go now, honey. I’ll see you in a few.”

“You bet you will, buster.”

“I love you, Red.”

“Love you too, Buchanan.”

Nora followed them out of the room, managing to keep her tears at bay until he disappeared through the double doors at the end of the hallway. Rachel watched from across the room as Nora sat down in the chair; her head in her hands as she gave into the tears. Rachel walked over and kneeled down in front of Nora, “Mama, mama what’s wrong? Where are they taking Bo?”

Nora looked up and wiped her tears before standing up and looking around at everyone that had accompanied her from Llanview, “Bo, umm Bo’s going to be Matthew’s donor. They had found another liver but Bo is insisting on being the one.”

Rachel could see the pain and fear in her mother’s eyes, “Bo knows what he’s doing, Mama. He’ll be fine…they both will be.”

She reached out and laid her hand on Rachel’s face, “I know. We’ll just have to keep the faith.”

Asa walked over and pulled Nora close, “My boy’s strong, he can pull through this, and Matthew, well he’s a fighter, honey. He’s a Buchanan after all.”

Nora held onto Asa for a few moments before pulling out of his embrace, “Thank you,” looking around the room, “all of you for coming here and for being willing to be tested.”

“You’re family, darling,” Vicki said as she took Nora in her arms.

Dr. Ortega walked up to the family, “Mrs. Buchanan, we’ll be taking Matthew down to the OR in a few minutes so if you would like a few moments with him before we take him down you may go ahead in.”

“Thank you,” Nora squeezed Vicki’s hand before walking into the room. She walked over to the bed and took Matthew’s hand in hers, “Hey there, sweetie.”

Matthew’s eyes opened at the sound of his mother’s voice, “Mommy?”

“Yeah, baby. I’m here.”

“Where am I mommy?”

“You’re in the hospital, baby. You were in an accident and you hurt your liver, but the doctor’s are going to fix it.”

“Where’s daddy,” he asks, looking around the room.

‘He’s in another room. He’s going to be helping the doctor’s make your liver all better by letting him give you a piece of his. You and your daddy will be connected forever now.”

“Daddy saved me from that man.”

“Yes he did, baby. You’re daddy’s a very brave man, and so are you.”

“Mommy…”

“Yeah, sweetie.”

“I’m tired, I’m going to go back to sleep, okay?”

“That’s just fine. You go ahead and sleep and when you wake up mommy and daddy will be right here waiting, and so will your sister and Grandma and Grandpa; Aunt Vicki and all your cousins. We’ll all be waiting for you.”

“Okay…I love you, mommy.”

“I love you, too. Now close your eyes and get some sleep.”

Nora waited until his breath steadied and she knew he was asleep before she walked back out into the hallway. “He’s fallen back to sleep.”

Nora watched from the window as they prepped Matthew for surgery. They exited the room a few minutes later. Rachel walked over and put her arm around Nora’s shoulder as they watched Matthew disappear through the same double doors that Bo had just moments before. Rachel led her mother over to the couch in the corner of the waiting area. “Mama, I want you to rest. I’m going to go get you something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, Rikki.”

“But the baby needs you to eat, so hungry or not you’re going to eat.”

Nora smiled, “Thank you, honey.”

Rachel returned a few minutes later with a tray of food for Nora. She picked at her food for a while; eating just enough to keep her strength up. She paced back and forth as the clock on the wall moved at a snail’s pace. One hour turned into four, which turned into six. Finally, the double doors swung open and Dr. Ortega and another Dr. walked towards them. “Mrs. Buchanan, I’m Dr. Costa. I performed the procedure on both your son and your husband,” once again Nora thought to correct the doctor’s mistake but decided against it.

“How are they? Was the transplant a success?”

“So far we are calling the procedure a success. Your son came through the surgery with flying colors…”

 

“And Bo….”

TBC…

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