Rose Garden [book two]

Chapter Ten

Sorry for the delay. This chapter has taken me a long time to write as I begin to cry every time I start... I recently lost someone close to me.

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"Well, how's Niall?" Addison finally asked after interrogating me with questions on Rosemarie's condition. We had nothing to talk about, but it was obvious she wanted to stay on the phone with me.

"I guess, I can't precisely answer that... he isn't talking to me," I mumbled with the phone pressed to my ear, though I could hold it as far as my waist and still hear it. It was merely a habit. I tucked my empty hand in the creasing of the opposite arm for warmth. The hospital was awfully cold and I had been stuck here for the last four days. "But he's in early depression stages, I think."

"Well do you guys need more clothes?" Addison asked. She had brought us a suitcase of clothes, and to be honest, we were running low on clothes again, maybe two days worth left. And it didn't help that we were sink bathing... It was definitely time to take a visit to the house. But I preferred sink bathing over leaving the hospital. What if the moment I left was the moment Rosemarie would take her last breath? I couldn't care less about a proper shower.

"We're okay for now," I sighed. Niall stayed with Rosemarie while I had gone down to the food court for him. He only spoke to me to tell me what he wanted to eat out of the food choices. There were only two choices on today's menu, lasagna or spaghetti.

The line started moving faster once Addison said, "When are visiting hours?"

"Honestly..." I started planning an excuse why she couldn't come.

"For Rosemarie's sake... I'm sure she needs a friend."

I sighed in defeat. "Only two bodies maximum," this meant that I didn't want Harry to come. But I thought of how Niall needed a friend too. Maybe we could all sit in that small room and bond.

Niall was also claustrophobic, so I thought against it.

"Well, what time are visiting hours!" She nagged me, slightly eager.

"Any time after noon," it had been only eight in the morning, and by the sounds of her whispers, Harry and/or Kenadee were still asleep.

"That'll do," she chimed. "Later, babe."

The line of people in front of me disappeared to their tables after getting their food, and I hobbled forward to get a tray with a bad limp. This was the result of receiving a large needle into my hip bone the previous day to collect bone marrow, looking for a match for my daughter. The worst part about it was the fact that there was no morphine or anything to numb me, and it wasn't a typical needle. It was thick and long. I cried, and even then Niall had said nothing to me, only holding my hand as I cried out.

I realized from the moment one becomes pregnant, they vow to do whatever they can to save another's life over their own. That child's life.

Niall didn't have similar white blood cells to Rosemarie as I did when they took swobs from our inner cheeks. This was why he wouldn't have qualified for the bone marrow transplant. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to endure the pain to keep our daughter alive.

We were told that my results wouldn't come in until later today. I hadn't formally prayed, but in my head, I hoped to God that we were a match. I would do it all over again for her if that meant that Niall and I would one day see her graduate, he would walk her down the aisle to give her away in marriage, and Rosemarie would eventually give us grandkids.