Choosing Hope

“She must need it,” Cailin said, looking up from her laptop. Ry came and got her some coffee
and implied that she is a little grumpy this morning.”
“Well, that does seem to be the common theme around here lately,” Jane says as she pours
herself a cup of coffee. "Good morning Callie,” she says, as she looks up and sees the teen walk
in.
“Morning ma, morning mom,” Callie says as she takes a seat at the table
“Maura, do you think with doing chemo during the day I could move my classes and clinicals to
nights and manage to juggle everything? I was just looking at my schedule trying to see what I
can do to accommodate all these appointments. I’d really prefer to not get behind.”
Maura freezes from mixing pancake batter to look up and stare at her sister.
“Cailin, you’re going to have to go on leave from medical school for the rest of the semester.
Even if you could somehow manage to pull it off, it is way too dangerous. Especially as you get
closer to the stem cell transplant, your immune system is going to be non-existent. You are going
to be in the hospital for weeks when that happens.”
Cailin immediately felt the tears spring to her eyes. Deep down she knew she was looking at the
impossible, but she didn’t want to admit it.
“No, Maura please. I’ll be extra careful. I swear I would take every precaution there is. Just let
me try to keep going for a bit. If it gets to be too much, I can go on leave. I should be able to
finish the semester before the stem cell transplant. ” Cailin looks at her sister pleadingly.
Maura puts down the whisk she’s holding and makes her way to her sister. “I’m sorry Cailin.
Doctors are exposed to all kinds of germs on a daily basis. It would be suicide for you to
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