Page 67 of Abel

“None that I know of.”

“Fuck! Micha, what can we do?” I ask, needing to find a solution. There’s no way I can lose either of them, not when it feels like I just got them back.

“There are ways to treat it, but they are all high risk since she’s pregnant.”

“Tell us.”

For what feels like an eternity, we listen to what he has to say. There are pills she can take such as, hydroxyurea, that may help prevent red blood cells from sickling. If she gets too sick from the disease, then she would need a transfusion. “Now these arejust some things that may be done. Ultimately, she’ll need a bone marrow transplant. With the baby taking a lot from her, she’ll need this done because it replaces the unhealthy blood-forming cells, stem cells, with healthy ones. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but this is all that can be done since she’s pregnant. If we do nothing, she’ll continue to pass out from fatigue, be too tired or sick to even carry on with the pregnancy let alone labor and delivery.”

“Abel?” She whispers my name on the verge of tears.

Holding her close, I promise, “We’ll get through this. Remember, I told you I’d never leave you.”

“Never leave me.” She repeats.

“How can we find out who could be a potential donor?” I question.

“It’ll definitely have to be one of her parents, and even that's rare because they are usually the carriers of the disease. That’s why I find it so hard to believe you just magically developed it without knowing it.”

“Could she have just been a carrier, too? And the pregnancy is the reason she now has it?”

“I’ve never heard of that before, but there is always a first time for everything.” He says, making me feel better about the next steps we need to take. “Ivy, you definitely need to work on finding your parents. They both need to get tested.” Little does he know, we’ve already found her father. But she doesn’t need to tell him that.

She laughs. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. I have no way of knowing where my mother is, and my father may as well be dead.” She spits.

“Marrone Dolce, if it means I get to have you and the baby until the end of time, then locating your mother will be next. I don’t care if I have to drag them both in kicking and screaming,that’s what I’ll fucking do because you and our baby are worth it.”

When we leave the doctor’s office, it all still seems unreal.

Is this what it feels like when your world seems to be crashing down on you?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ivy

September 2023

It’s been three weeks since I’ve been on this medicine.

Three weeks of being sick every single day because my body is rejecting it.

Three weeks since I’ve needed to find my mother but coming up empty handed. There’s no way I can speak to Santiago, even though I know Abel can get him here, but it’s not like he made any effort to come back and see or talk to me.

I just don’t want to ask him for anything.

I’m sick of this shit. My mouth has become severely disrespectful since all this shit went down, and I don’t care.

Abel won’t let me out of his sight.

The ol' ladies of the club have taken turns coming over to take care of me. I don’t know how I’m going to go back to a regular life after getting the princess treatment this long.

Abel still spoiled me, with just a little twist… He would have my nail person, hairdresser, and even a masseuse come out to the house to pamper me since I was too weak to do much on my own.

Cam and Travis were oblivious to the fact that I was sick and thought it was just the pregnancy taking a toll on me.

Who was I to say otherwise?

They’ve also been coming back and forth to Abel’s house, claiming it’s because I practically moved out of their place and in with him. Rain, sleet, or snow, nothing could keep them away from me.

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