THIEF: Part 4 Read Online Free

“first, we’ll get rid of the bad antibodies in your blood by replacing the plasma.Then we’ll lower your immune system with medication, to stem its attack on your collagen.”
                  I wait for him to continue, then prompt, “No dialysis?”
                  “Your kidneys are damaged,” he says, slowly, “but it’s possible some of the function could return; you’re up 5% from yesterday, and if the trend continues, we might be able to take dialysis off the table.”
                  “So the damage can heal.”
                  He shakes his head, and I sink back into my pillows a little, unable to hide my disappointment.“Kidney damage is permanent.But some organs do a great job of working around impairments.Since we’ve caught this in the early stages, and because your lungs don’t seem very affected—almost at all, really—your prognosis is great.”
                  “Great,” I repeat, my defenses rising.
                  Dr. Brody gives me a withering look.“If it were up to me, Erin, you’d be at home—”he motions around the room, “—with your family right now, not sick at all.But that’s not how the real world works, unfortunately.People get sick.And I’m telling you, given your diagnosis, that yes, your outcome for this looks pretty great.Few people get the news this early; a lot of times, it’s too late, and treatment stops aiming for a cure, and simply delays the inevitable.”
                  His eye contact, so intense, makes me nervous.I look away.
                  Finally, I can tell, Alex can’t hold his questions in any longer.“So let’s say the plasma thing goes well, and the immune suppression; will she be cured?”It strikes me as funny that, as someone who doesn’t mind having so much out of his control, Alex asks a lot of questions.Maybe he’s just one of those people who lessens their fear through knowledge.
                  Dr. Brody nods, raising an eyebrow at me as if to say, “Told you so.”
                  Suddenly, Aunt Jane steps forward.Her usually boisterous voice is subdued now, almost wispy.“And what if…God forbid, obviously…what if those treatments didn’t go well?”
                  “Dialysis would be the first step after the initial treatment,” Dr. Brody tells her.He looks back at me.“In some cases, when the damage is really bad and function drops too much, or the kidneys completely fail, a transplant is needed.”
                  “Well, maybe…”Aunt Jane flounders, a sight I’m not used to seeing.“Maybe we should try to find a donor now, just in case?”
                  “Couldn’t hurt,” Dr. Brody says, shrugging.“A sibling is the best match, followed by a parent.”
                  “What about an aunt?”
                  “Aunt Jane,” I protest, sitting up.The biopsy ache in my back flares, and I lie back down.“No.I won’t let you.”
                  “Relax, Erin,” she says, like I’m a little kid interrupting a grown-up conversation.“It’s just a hypothetical question.”
                  I roll my eyes.With Jane, there’s never such a thing as hypotheticals.
                  “We could test to see if you’re a match.”Something in Dr. Brody’s voice tells me most of those tests aren’t favorable.“Fortunately, I don’t think it will come to that, in Erin’s case.”His reassurance also tells me, “Don’t get your hopes up on finding any back-ups.”
                  Fiona, chewing idly on the mouth of her coffee cup, asks, “What about non-relatives?Could they be a match?”
                  Alex nods, seconding her question.
                  “You guys.”I try to sit up again, this time pushing through the pain.“ No