This
is a first meeting of a slightly different kind. Ostia Farrell is
lonely, lives alone and works hard as office manager for a large law
firm. She never knew her father and recently lost her mother.
Suddenly, her father reappears in her life, begging for her to donate
bone marrow to a brother she never even knew she had. Determined to
meet the boy, she heads to the hospital on her lunch break.
Adhering
to her plan, Ostia headed to South General Hospital at lunch time and
asked about Wyatt's room at the front desk. She had a number, she
simply needed directions. She followed the map the woman at reception
gave her and found him with only a couple of wrong turns.
The
face that gazed up at her from the hospital bed might have belonged
to Richard, their father, forty years ago. His blue eyes widened with
surprise in his too pale face.
“You
must be Ostia,” he croaked.
She
rushed to the table and handed him a glass of water. “Yes.”
“Dad
said he came to see you. Did he spring it on you or did he at least
give you some lead-in?”
“Blind
sided me,” she replied, taking the chair next to the bed.
“Figures.
Subtle, my old man. Our.... I imagine it's all kind of surreal.”
“You're
very well spoken for a fifteen year old,” Ostia remarked.
“Not
a lot to do when you're hooked up to poison,” he replied, showing
her his IV. Instead of going into his arm, the line led to a spot on
his upper left chest, just above his heart. “I read a lot.
Classics, graphic novels, lots of sci-fi. How about you?”
“I
love to read. I grew up reading those stupid Goosebumps
things. Then I switched to the Series of Unfortunate Events
books.”
Wyatt
laughed, nodding. “Me too, on both. Now I'm hooked on Narnia.
I'm up to A Horse and His Boy.”
They
talked a while longer, until Ostia noticed he was getting visibly
tired.
“You're
going to help, aren't you?” his voice sounded to plaintive, Ostia
almost cried.
“We
don't even know if I'm a good match,” she replied. “Please don't
think I'm horrible, but I had to meet you first.”
“To
see if I'm worth saving?”
She
gulped. She wouldn't have put it that way, but it was surely an
accurate assessment.
“I
wanted to put a face on the request. This isn't because your father
asked me. This is because you're a great kid and you deserve every
chance you can get. I'll talk to your doctor before I go. May I come
see you again?”
“Yeah,
I'd like that. This is usually a good time. The parents go have lunch
and leave me on my own for a couple hours. I don't imagine you really
want to see the old man right now.”
“Not
much, no,” she admitted shyly.
“I'd
like you to meet my mom sometime,” he said quietly. “She's a
pretty cool lady, even if Dad's kind of intense.”
“Maybe
later,” Ostia assured him. “I'd better get back to work. It was
great meeting you, Wyatt.”
“You
too, Ostia.”
“My
mom always called me Ozzy,” she said.
“She
doesn't anymore?”
Ostia
shook her head. “She died last year.”
“I'm
really sorry,” he said quietly. “Can I ask how?”
She
shook back her bangs, wiping her eyes. “She just didn't want to
live any longer.”
He
nodded, biting his lip.
Bidding
farewell, she went to the nurses station and asked for Wyatt's
oncologist, Dr. Maureen Riley. They had a short chat about what
needed to be done and scheduled tests the following day.
“Don't
tell his parents,” Ostia said. “This is for Wyatt, not for—our
father.”
©
2017 Dellani Oakes
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