Between Life And Death
My twin sister, Stormy, tells my story as I arrived at the hospital. I have no memory of these events.
I rode with Danni to the nearest hospital. When we got there, no one seemed to move with urgency to help her. I knew she was in bad shape, but Danni sat in a wheelchair for hours while the staff located a room for her.
While we were waiting, Danni continued to behave strangely. She would sit in silence and suddenly would say she had to go to the bathroom. I wheeled her into the bathroom three or four times, but she would sit, motionless, every time. She also became agitated and mean towards me. She accused me of smelling badly and told me to go away. Danni and I both have a dry wit, especially towards each other, but are not cruel to each other. What scared me the most was how quickly Danni seemed to be fading. I would touch her, and she would barely respond.
Chris arrived and the doctors started to assess Danni. The first doctor who examined her appeared unconcerned with her state. However, the second doctor cavalierly stated, “Looks like she needs a liver transplant.”We dismissed him harshly (I believe the character Doogie Howser was mentioned), but he was right. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctors realized how sick Danni was and confirmed the hospital did not have the facilities to treat her. She was rushed to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
We arrived first and our parents and close friend Ben, arrived shortly after. The doctor explained Danni’s condition and confirmed our worst fear. Danni would die if she did not get a new liver. She was in acute liver failure. Due to her status, she was placed at the top of the transplant list. It was now real. Danni’s life depended not only on a stranger’s death, but the liver had to be a perfect match and donated via the generosity of a stranger’s loved ones. It was already a seemingly impossible situation, until the doctor mentioned one more piece to the puzzle. Danni had at most, two days, to live without a new liver.
As we huddled around Danni, her eyes were closed, and she was motionless in the hospital bed. As I looked out the window, I saw her in the reflection. A strong sense of fear and hopelessness came over me and I completely broke down.