Chapter Text
“Dr. Groff, I’m not comfortable with this,” a nurse said as the team stood around the baby, the parents not present.
“Parents gave their consent.” the doctor replied.
“The complications though,” the nurse continued. “With a perfectly healthy adult they’re fine and usually recover. But this is a child, a baby. They don’t even know what’s going on.”
“Exactly. They won’t even remember this ever happened. Hopefully, this will cure the brother, they’ll both move on, and grow up like any other pair of siblings.” The doctor said. The nurse opened his mouth to protest again, but the doctor shot them a look and continued. “It seems you haven’t read up this case, Nurse White. This baby was specifically conceived for this purpose. To save their brother. That’s exactly what we are doing, while ensuring both children are okay. If you can’t get on board, the door is right there.” the doctor said, before turning his back on the nurse and his attention to the baby. The nurse hesitated, before stepping closer to the baby, keeping an eyes on the stats, and their mouth shut.
Nurse White kept a close eye on Baby Buckley. He watched as the baby was poked and prodded, tests run, and then stayed by the baby’s side through the procedure. He went home after shifts, frustrated, and vented to his best friend. But there was very little he could do. The team was doing everything they were supposed to, the procedure was textbook, and Nurse White had to watch, as Baby Buckley was left to recover one their own. The parents came in for obligatory updates, but as soon as they were done, the parents were asking about their other son, how he was doing, and how his recovery was going.
“It’s okay, little guy,” Nurse White said, leaning over the baby, everyone else having left. “You’re strong, you’re a fighter, you’re gonna be okay.” he said, despite everything pointing to things not going that way. The baby had been crying, almost nonstop, since he woke up from the procedure. He stopped whenever Nurse White visited, talked to him, and held his little hand, or when he was asleep. But little else seemed to help.
Then, it became clear the baby was sick. Nurse White sighed as he watched the baby’s fever and his little chest rise and fall, struggling to breath.
“I told you, I wasn’t comfortable with this.” Nurse White said later. Dr. Groff rolled his eyes.
“You know as well as I do, Pneumonia is a side effect that some people have from general anesthesia. The parents were aware of the risks when we started this. Just do your job, and make sure the baby has all he needs.” he said, before walking off. Nurse White sighed, but did his best. Slowly, the baby began to get better, but Nurse White couldn’t help but feel like there was more to it than what was easily visible. The one upside, was that the parents finally seemed to be showing some concern for the baby and spent more time with the baby. Even the baby seemed to realize this as it cried less, and held tightly to the fingers the parents offered occasionally.
The Buckley Boys finally seemed to be doing better and both had turned a corner. Nurse White even saw a young girl, the boys’ sister, visit.
“And Daniel will get better. You’ll see. Then we can all go home! We’ll play every day. Everything’s gonna be okay.” the nurse heard the little girls say. Nurse White smiled and backed away, breathing a sigh of relief. He saw all kinds of patients and families. He knew what illnesses could do to families, the way it could tear them apart or build them up. It was always hard to watch, but as hard as it was to watch, there were the good days too, like now, when a family pulled together.
The night before Baby Buckley was discharged, Nurse White had a shift. He spent as much time as he could with Baby Buckley, murmuring quietly as he went through the check out procedures.
“You’re gonna be okay little guy. You may get sick easily or have some trouble with your lungs for a while, but you’re gonna be okay. You’re a fighter. You’ve got spirit. Don’t ever let that go away bud and you’ll be alright.” Nurse White smiled down at the baby, before giving him a gentle pat. But the baby let out a low whimper. Nurse White frowned and tried to give a more thorough exam of the baby, but didn’t find anything. Maybe it was just a dream. He’d make a note to the family to keep and eye on the baby and take him for a checkup if anything seemed off.
The next few months proceeded as usual. Nurse White continued taking care of babies and do his job. But occasionally, he’d sneak off to the oncology floor to see the Buckleys. He’d smiled when he saw the little girl holding the baby, or the family all together, a young boy smiling happily. Nurse White let out a breath of relief. His concern and feeling that something was off, finally letting go. And then the worst happened. The little boy took a turn for the worse. The little girl and baby stopped visiting. The parents were with the little boy constantly. On Nurse White’s last visit to the oncology floor, he found the mom yelling at Doctor Groff, tears streaming down her face, as her husband held her back.
“You said it would work! You said if we had another baby he could be the perfect donor for Daniel. You promised he would save Daniel!” she cried.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Buckley. It was Daniel’s best chance. But I’m afraid there just isn’t anything left for us to do.” he said. Nurse White turned on his heel and left back to the floor he worked on. His heart felt heavy but he hoped. Hoped that the little girl and baby Buckley would be okay.
Nurse White saw the family one last time when the family left the hospital. The little boy was pale, but smiled down at the baby brother in his lap.
“What’s caught your eye, Nurse White?” a coworker said as they walked up.
“The Buckley family.” he said quietly. The coworker sighed.
“That poor family.” they said.
“Yeah, but… I just, something doesn’t seem quite right. I checked the baby’s file. They never brought him for his check ups. The initial ones, sure, but after that, nothing.” he said, shaking his head.
“Was there something wrong with the baby?” they asked. Nurse White sighed.
“Nothing I could prove. But I just feel like we missed something.” he said. The coworker pat his shoulder.
“There’s only so much we can do, White. The rest we have to leave up to the parents.” They said, before turning and walking away. Nurse White sighed, knowing it was true. And just like with any of his other patients, Nurse White had to let the Buckleys walk out of the hospital, knowing it was highly likely that he would never see them again.