Page 187 of Missed Notes (Rixon High 5)

“Thank you,” I managed to choke out.

“We love you, babe.”

“Love you, Sofe.”

“Think sticky stem cell thoughts,” Poppy added, and everyone laughed.

“I’ll speak to you soon,” I said, not wanting to hang up. Because when I did, life as I knew it would be forever changed.

I would be forever changed.

But hopefully, it would be changed for the better.

Cole thanked everyone and ended the call, handing the tablet off to my dad. He climbed up on the bed with me, not caring that my parents and Aaron were in the room and held me tight.

But then they all piled in, Aaron first. Then Mom, then Dad. Until they were all holding me, hugging me, whispering how much they loved me.

“You’ve got this, Sofia. And we’re right behind you, every step of the way.”

A knock at the door cut through my sobs and my family backed away to give me and Cole some space.

Nurse Jennifer peeked into the room and smiled. “Okay, Sofia. Ready to do this?”

I nodded, squeezing Cole’s hand tightly.

“Then let’s go get you some new stem cells.”

* * *

I’d hadmany heart stopping moments over the last few weeks.

Hearing I had leukemia for the first time. Finding out it had accelerated. Hearing the words, ‘your brother is a donor match.’ Waking up after the transfusion with the innate knowledge that a part of my brother now lived inside of me, knowing that it was up to my body to accept his stem cells.

But nothing could compare to the way I felt when Dr. Jeffries arrived to give me the news we’d all been so desperately waiting to hear.

“You can go home.”

It had been seven weeks and three days since my transplant.

Seven weeks of constant tests and monitoring. Of some days feeling so nauseous that I couldn’t get my head out of a plastic bowl. I’d cried and laughed and cried some more. I’d spent eight days in complete isolation after contracting an infection. But there had never been a single moment where I’d truly felt alone.

Cole had been my rock. The immovable force in my life. Even when he couldn’t physically visit me, he found ways to be present in my life. And I only fell deeper and deeper in love with him.

“H-home?” I whispered, not daring to believe it. I’d missed Christmas and New Year. I’d missed my brother and the Rixon Raiders winning the championship against all odds.

But none of it mattered in the face of hearing those four little words.

Home.

I could go home.

“You’ll need to attend twice-weekly visits initially, so you’re not quite rid of us just yet.” Dr. Jeffries smiled. “But your blood count is looking good, and your vitals are strong. It’s time to see how you fare outside these four walls.”

“I… thank you.” Tears pricked the corner of my eyes.

“My team has briefed your parents and Cole on what to expect.”

I smiled at that, hardly surprised that he’d requested to sit in on that particular conversation. Cole was determined to help me in any way he could and given the fact that he’d moved in permanently with my family, he was going to be around a lot.

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