Chapter 4 - The Urgent Test
The medical staff moved with a chaotic but highly practiced efficiency.
A nurse grabbed my arm and pulled me into a small adjacent room.
She sat me down in a vinyl chair and wrapped a tight tourniquet around my bicep.
My phone began to vibrate violently in my coat pocket again.
It was Amelia, no doubt furious that I had abandoned her at the restaurant.
I ignored the phone, keeping my eyes fixed on the needle piercing my skin.
I watched my dark red blood flow rapidly into the plastic vials.
Through the glass window, I could see Grace pacing the hallway like a caged animal.
Her hands were covered in tears, and her lips moved in a silent, desperate prayer.
I felt an overwhelming surge of protective instinct for a family I had just discovered.
I swore to myself that I would save my son and burn my mother's empire to the ground.
The nurse placed a bandage over my arm and rushed the vials to the rapid testing lab.
I walked out into the hallway and stood next to Grace.
She did not push me away this time.
We stood in agonizing silence for forty-five long minutes.
Every tick of the wall clock sounded like a heavy hammer striking an anvil.
Finally, the head doctor walked out of the laboratory holding a clipboard.
His face was pale, and he refused to make eye contact with either of us.
I stepped forward and told him I was ready for the transplant procedure.
The doctor looked at his clipboard, his brow furrowed in deep confusion.
He took a deep breath and looked me directly in the eyes.
He said he was incredibly sorry, but I could not donate bone marrow to the boy.
I demanded to know why, asking if I had an underlying medical condition.
The doctor shook his head slowly.
He flipped the paper over and pointed at a column of genetic markers.
He stated that a biological parent is always at least a half-match for a child.
The test results showed that I shared absolutely zero genetic markers with the boy.
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The doctor told me the brutal, scientific truth.
He said there was a zero percent chance I was the biological father of those children.
