Home is wherever i'm with you

theres a light at the end of the tunnel

"i'm a match." Mason said at the breakfast table. "What?" Nina was confused. Her head hurt and everything just seemed too bright. "I got an email from the hospital. I'm a perfect match." "Thats great." Nina groaned. "Do you have a headache?" Amelia asked. "Yes." Nina hissed. "Well, remember how you feel now, next time you decide this is a good idea." "What did you do?" Mason asked. "Are you asking as my teacher or my uncle?" "Both." "She downed half a bottle of vodka." Amelia threw in. "Amelia!!" Nina said. Mason laughed. "Its okay, we talked about it." "I'll not do it again. I feel horrible." "Have you heard from your Mamma?" Amelia asked and immediatly the mood tilted. "No." Nina said. "I'm gonna call her."

"Hi Bellina." "Hi Mamma. How are you guys?" "Still holding on. Mom is fighting." "Thats good. Do you know if her numbers are better?" "No, they have just taken some blood. And they will do a spinal tab on monday. They just need to let her rest for a little while." "Mason is a possible donor." "What?" Carina was confused. "Mason is a possible donor. I called him. He is a possible donor." "Did he get tested?" "Yeah. I called him, and he and his wife came and he got tested. He is a match and he'll do it." "Wow. Is he with you?" "Mhm. Sorry if that is not okay." "No. No Bellina. Its okay. Can you hand the phone over." "Yes. Bye mom. Te voglio bene." "Te voglio bene, Bellina."

"Hello?" Mason said. "Hi Mason." "Hi Carina?" "Si. I am really greatful you are doing this." "Anytime." "Maya made me promise not to ask you. I really wanted to though." "I know. Its okay. I get where she is coming from. Honestly it feels good, that she was looking for me. I wanted to look for her, but i was scared of Lane." "Yeah. He is in Jail, but we also have a restraining order." "Yeah. Thats probably for the better. Well Maya is still asleep, but when she wakes up, i'll have her call you, so you can tell her." "Thank you. And Carina?" "Hm?" "I'm really sorry." "Why?" "I cut ties. I left. I ignored Nina. I am sorry...." "Its okay, Mason. We are happy, that you are here." "See you later Carina." "See you." Carina hung up.

When Maya woke up and Mason told her she was a match, she was flashed at first, then a little angry. She had made them promise not to ask Mason, but now she was relieved they did. Her strength to fight got smaller every day and she didn't know, if she could do it as long as it took for a anonymous transplant to match.

Over the course of the Weekend, Mayas labs got better and better. They were still really bad, but her kidneys worked a little and the infection in her stomach lightend. She was still under strickt isolation rules, but she had a little more strength to talk to her kids over the phone.
The rest of the Family, being Nina, the tripplets, Andy and Kathrine, were in a kind of trance. They waited for calls from Carina and hoped for good news, or at least no bad news. They played games watched movies and read books, but noone was really focused.

Kathrine took the girls to school on Monday, Nina had decided to call in sick and stay home. She helped Andy get the house clean, while they waited for Carina to call.

Maya had a particularly rough night. She had palptations and her blood pressure kept bottoming out. It the morning she was spent. They took her into a different room and rolled her onto her side. Carina got to be with her, when they did the spinal tab. The resident cleaned Mayas back and numbed it. When it was numb, she poked a needle into Mayas spine. Maya winced and squeezed Carinas hands. "Its okay, Bella. You're okay." Carina wispered, as a tear droped down Mayas nose. "All done." The resident said and left with the spinal fluid.

They took Maya to a PET scan and injected the the radioactive dye. They scaned her and then took her back to her room. "How are you feeling, Bella?" "I don't know. In pain. Sore and nauseous." "Do you want to get more painmeds?" "No. I'll sleep." "Okay. Bella. Sleep. I'll be here." "You should sleep, too." "Its okay." "No. Come here." "You are already in pain. I don't want to hurt you more." "I want you to hold me. I need you close." "Okay." Carina took her shoes off and helped Maya sit up. Then she sat behind her and let Maya rest on her chest. "thats nice." "Good Bambina." Carina drew lazy circles on Mayas arm until the deep breaths lulled her into sleep aswell.

On tuesday morning. The doctors came into Mayas room. Dr. Lindner took a chair and sat down on it backwards,with the backrest between his legs, like he does often. "Good morning. You look comfortable." Carina had resorted to sitting behind Maya again, after she had been to the toilet, brushed her teeth and had breakfast with Jo.

Jo, Amelia and Teddy made sure Carina was eating. One of them would pick her up and eat with her and often times even bring the food. "I have one good and two bad news for you." "Start with the bad ones." Maya rasped out. "Your spinal tab wasn't clean. It was better than the last, but there is still cancerous cells in your spine and we can't do the transplant until you are cancer free." "What does that mean for the treatment?" Carina asked and squeezed Mayas shaking hand. Dr. Lindner sighed. "It means two more rounds of chemo. But that takes me to my second bad news, you aren't strong enough for another round of chemo. We can not risk it right now." "Wouldn't the cancer spread again, if we don't start now?" "Yes. But we are hopefull that we can start again three weeks from now. It should be okay. We'll monitor your bloodwork." "Do i have to stay until then?" "You have to stay atleast as long as you need the continous dialysis. If your kidneys improve as they have the last few days, that would be a week. Then we'll talk about it. It is very important, that you don't contract any infections." "We are very carefull." Carina said. "Dr. Lindner nodded. "I know. But i cannot stress it enough." "What are the good news?" "Your brother is a perfect match. 98% Its better, than i expected and minimizes the chance of you rejecting his donation." "Thats great." Maya said and Carina kissed the top of her head. "Lets hope that the two more do the job and then the transplant works." "Yes. Lets hope."