I was still half asleep when i pulled myself out of bed. Today was important for me and for Kate.
I was incredibly nervous which was something that i haven't felt in a while. I had taken the entire day off which is a rare occurrence to me. As a doctor you're almost all the time in the hospital even during the holiday's.
"You're up early for someone who doesn't need to work." Luke said when i came downstairs.
"I'm meeting Kate's biological mom today."I said as i poured myself a cup of coffee.
"I wish you good luck mate. I hope she wants to talk to you and eventually Kate."
The reason that i wanted to go so early was to make sure that she was still at home. Most people leave for work around 8 so i wanted to be there before that time.
I chugged my coffee and left the house. I wasn't worried about the carride because it wasn't that far away.
After almost and hour i arrived at an old apartment complex. The front door was open which was unusual for these things.
Hesitantly i walked inside. The elevator looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment so i decided to take the stairs.
Mandy had told me that it was on the second floor. Once i got there i walked all the way to the last door in the hallway.
I took a deep breath in before knocking on the door.
It took a while before i finally heard some noise behind the door. Not even a second later a woman opened the door. She looked exactly like the pictures Kate had showed me. She had brown hair and kind eyes. She truly looked like Kate's mom.
She appeared to be a bit scared which i totally understood. I was wearing my casual clothes, a hoodie with a beanie and skinny jeans. She probably thought i was some weird guy who had followed her home or something.
"Can i help you?" She asked.
"You don't know me but I'm your daughter's doctor. I'm here because she needs your help." I said to her.
She shook her head. "I don't have a daughter."
I gave her an confused look because i knew that she was the right person. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and showed her a picture of Kate. "Is Kate not your daughter?"
She went quiet for a second. She then looked my up and down before opening the door all the way. "Come in."
"Thank you."
I stepped inside her a apartment and was a bit shocked by the state it was in. There where stacks of old newspapers everywhere, dirty clothes on the floor and there was almost no sunlight in the room due to the curtains being shut.
"Can i get you anything? A coffee or some thee?" She asked as she walked into the kicthen.
"I would like some coffee please." I said politely as i sat down on the stained couch.
Her life didn't look that different for how Kate told me it used to be.
She came into the living room and handed me my coffee before sitting down in a big chair opposite form the couch.
"Thank you..?"
"I'm Mabel." She said with a smile.
"I'm Calum."
"How did know who i was Calum?" She aksed.
"Kate told me about you and how she hadn't been able to contact you. So i had a conversation with Mandy who is currently taking care of her and she gave me this adress." I explained to her.
She nodded while sipping her coffee. She was wearing a robe and some dirty slippers. She looked like she hadn't been outside in a long while. I also noticed that she wasn't as social just like Kate.
"Do you want to know why your daughter is in the hospital?"
She nodded but didn't seemed to bothered. Mabel looked more confused and uncertain about this whole situation.
"Kate is suffering from cancer and is currently under going treatment. As i said before i'm the doctor who treats her."
"How bad it is? How mich time does she have left?" She asked abit stressed.
"That's still uncertain. But i do have to say that she's going faster downhill then uphill."
Mabel looked down with a sad face. She needed to process everything.
I gave her a few minutes to calm herself down.
"I'm sorry for not trying to contact Kate any time sooner. When she was taken away from me i wasn't clear in my mind. They made all the agreements regarding her custody without me. I am not allowed to contact her in any way and if she contacts me I'm also not allowed to engage. Otherwise I'll probably have to go back to jail." She explained to me.
"If you don't mind me aksing what are currently doing with your life? Are you still in contact with Kate's old stepfather?"
She looked up almost offended. "Of course not. He is still in jail for all the things he's done. Besides I've been sober since Kate was taken away from me. I never want anything to do with that type of shit again."
"But why does Mandy still doesn't let you see Kate. It doesn't sound to me like you're a danger to her."
She put her hand up. It was shaking as she tried to do that. "Nerve damage from all those chemicals i used to put on my body. It used to be so bad that i couldn't even feed myself anymore. Mandy probably still thinks that I'm not capable of anything. Besides that also had to go to jail for a year."
Mabel suddenly stood up form her chair. She searched around up a cupboard.
"Mandy always tried to be miss perfect even back in school." She said as she handed me an old yearbook.
I skipped trough the pages to see a happy Mandy as a cheerleader.
"She always told me that she wanted to have kids. So obviously she was absolutely heartbroken when she found out that she wasn't able to get them. She was infertile."
"Is that why she decided to take care of Kate?" I aksed as i closed the yearbook.
Mabel leaned back and shook her head. "I'm happy that she took Kate when she did because she really wasn't in a good place. The downside was that she didn't want to give her up because she wanted Kate to be her own kid. That's why she painted me as bad as possible to the jury and made sure that i would never be able to contact Kate again."
"That's must've been hard on you."
"It was but i eventually got used to it."
"That's why you told me that you didn't have a daughter."
She nodded.
"Why exactly are you here?" She aksed.
"Kate is in need of a bonemarrow donor."
She cut me off. "Absolutely not. I can't donate to her, my body is so unhealthy and damaged."
"There is a good chance that your bone marrow is till healthy enough to donate. Besides you are the closest DNA match to Kate."
She sighed and ran her fingers trough her hair. "Has Kate been trying to contact me?"
She tried to change to subject but i allowed it.
"Yes she has tried everything but Mandy has made it impossible."
"Why does she want to talk to me?" She said with tears in her eyes.
"Because you are her mother and have given Kate her first memories. She misses you very much and can remember more good memories than bad ones."
She looked up at me with a smile. Those words convinced her.
"What do i need to do to qualify to be a donor for her?"
"We need to do a few test to make sure that you're a match for Kate and to make sure that you're healthy enough. After that you only need to sign a few papers and then we can do the operation."
"Operation?" She said scared.
"Don't worry it's nothing to be afraid for. You'll be sedated during the procedure. Then we'll collect your bone marrow from both hipbones through a needle."
She looked in the distance for a second. It probably still sounded quite scary for her.
"I have one condition." She said eventually.
"I don't want to see Kate until she has received the transplant. Or mabye even later."
"I'll take care of that. You get to see Kate when you feel comfortable enough to do so."
"Thank you."