Find the Horizon

The days dragged on slowly as Katie finished up her rounds of radiation and moved on to the chemotherapy. It was Saturday June 6th, and Katie hadn’t been able to record anything since her first day of radiation and the day of Andrew’s donation. She’d mostly been sleeping, waking up to catch parts of the Stanley Cup Finals. Even though the Pens had lost the first two games, they bounced back to win the third and fourth.

Game five was that night, and it was also the night Katie would be getting her transplant.

Tim held the video camera as the doctor and a few nurses came into the room. “It’s the big day,” he said to Katie, who was beaming from her hospital bed. “Are you ready?”

“I am ready,” she nodded. “It’s been close to two months of being stuck in this hospital. And I don’t want to have to keep coming back and being sick for the next two years of my life. So, bring it on. I’m ready.”

Andrew sat closest to Katie, and all four of them, he, Katie, Rita and Tim, all held hands and watched as the doctor and nurses infused the new stem cells into her body through the main line in her arm. At the sight, Katie smiled and took in deep breaths. Everyone just sat there and started to cry as life was being brought back to her face.

“Wow,” Katie breathed.

Andrew wiped his eyes and rested his head against Katie’s shoulder. “It’s like magic.”

She cried happy tears and leaned over so that her forehead and Andrew’s forehead were resting against each other. “Thank you for saving my life.”

Andrew laughed a little bit, watching as the rest of the stem cells went into her body. “You’re welcome.”

* * * *

Sidney hadn’t checked his phone at all that day. It was just after Game Five had ended, a disappointing and frankly embarrassing loss to the Red Wings with a score of 5-0 in their favour. Sidney changed out of his gear and packed it away. Game Six would be in Pittsburgh, and he knew that he and the guys would get them there. The team had wanted to win Game Five in order to win the series and get the Cup on home ice, but now they knew that it wouldn’t be happening the way they had envisioned. Still, he was excited to go home.

“Check your phone, Sid,” Alex Goligoski said as he passed him in the locker room. “It’s been beeping like crazy. I think you got a text message.”

“Oh, right,” Sidney nodded, pulling his phone out of his suit jacket pocket.

“Who’s it from?” Max asked, shrugging his hockey bag over his shoulder.

“Who else?” Jordan grinned. “Katie?”

Sidney nodded, opening the message and reading it.

Got my transplant today. It went really well. My body feels strong again for the first time in a long time. They said I can go home with my parents on Tuesday. And don’t sweat about Game Five. Go home and win it at Mellon in Game Six so you can get the Cup on Friday.

“Good news?” Max asked, hovering over Sidney’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” he nodded, tucking his phone back into his pocket. “It’s good news.”

* * * *

That Tuesday, Katie was released into the care of her parents. She went home that night, but as she was going into the house, she nearly collapsed onto the ground. Tim immediately caught her as she was falling and pulled her up to her feet, bringing her inside.

“What’s going on?” Rita demanded, visibly panicked. “What should we do?”

“Calm down, honey,” Tim said reassuringly. “Call the doctors. Andrew, get some cushions and get the couch bed ready. Go on, hurry.”

Andrew did as he was told and everything was set in a matter of minutes. Tim laid Katie down on the bed and covered her with a blanket as Rita came in, talking to the doctors on the phone.

“Hello? Yes, it’s about Katie Lowell, she received a stem cell transplant on Saturday and the doctors said she could come home with us. Something’s wrong with her though, she can’t walk, she can’t stand, she said she aches all over...what should we do?”

Rita was quiet while she listened to the doctors on the other line. “Not a big deal? She can’t even move! We’ve been by her side this whole time and this is the worst we’ve ever seen her.” After a few more minutes, Rita nodded her head. “Okay. Okay, thank you. Bye.”

Tim looked over. “What did they say?”

Rita sighed. “They said that after a stem cell transplant, there’s a period of time that could last up to three months or longer where the patient has impaired T-cell immunity, like an HIV patient. We just have to wait it out.”

Katie’s eyes weren’t open, but she could hear everything her parents were saying. She could feel the blood pumping slowly through her veins, her pulse easily being felt through any part of her skin.

“M-Mom?” she said weakly, her eyes still closed.

Rita rushed over to her daughter’s side. “Yes, sweetheart? What is it?”

“Could you turn the TV on? Game Six starts in an hour.”

Rita, Tim and Andrew all laughed.

“Only you would care more about the outcome of a hockey game than your own health,” her mother mused as she went to go switch on the television.

“It’s not just that,” she mumbled, struggling to open her eyes. “I want to make sure that Sidney plays well. They have to win this game. They just have to.”

* * * *

Game Six was nerve-wracking to say the least. The Penguins exploded with Jordan scoring the only goal in the second period and Tyler Kennedy scoring one in the third to give them a 2-0 lead. The Red Wings were resilient though and managed to put one past Flower to make it 2-1 Pittsburgh. Still, they managed to stay strong and kept the game from going into overtime. The final buzzer sounded, signaling that the Pens had won Game Six and would be headed back to Detroit for a Game Seven.

Back in the locker room, all the guys were exchanging high-fives and congratulations for the win.

“We’re gonna go to Detroit and win this thing on Friday!” Head Coach Dan Bylsma announced to the room. “Be ready. They’re going to come after us and they’re going to be relentless.”

All the guys nodded and Sidney immediately went to go check his phone. When he saw that he didn’t have any new texts, he got concerned.

“What is it?” Max asked, noticing the look on Sidney’s face.

“It’s Katie,” he replied. “She hasn’t sent me anything new.”

“Maybe she’s sleeping or she missed the game,” Max offered. “Calm down, man. I’m sure she’s okay.”

Sidney pursed his lips together and tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah,” he said, trying to convince himself that Max was right. But still, that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach wouldn’t go away.