Bone Dry, Bone Marrow

Peta/Sam

Act 3, Chapter 1

"It's acute lymphocytic leukemia, I'm afraid," the doctor said. Peta and Hans stared at him.

"What do you mean, Leukemia?" Peta said. "She's had a cold for weeks."

"We've run the tests, we're pretty sure," the doctor said. "We need to be able to do a bone marrow transplant. So we will need to start chemotherapy."

The enormity of this overwhelmed Peta, and she sat back, weakly. "No, not Annika. Not my Annika."

"So what do we do, Doctor?" Hans asked. "Who is the donor?"

"We will need to test you first," the doctor said. "Peta can't donate."

"Why?" Peta demanded. "Why can't I donate?"

"You've got a head trauma on record," the Doctor said, looking at his clipboard, "and that required some surgery, no?"

"Yes," Peta said, sitting back again.

"So you are not able to help, Ms Fernsands. I am sorry."

The doctor looked at Hans. "We need to do a few tests on you, if I may," he said, trying to word this carefully. "You will be a Haplo match for Annika. We need to be sure that you're at least a 50% match, which will mean the blood stem cells have a good chance to take."

Hans nodded. "Can these be done now?"

"Yes, but we will get the results back in a few days," the doctor said. "Can I take you up now?" Hans nodded, and left with the doctor.

Peta looked at Annika, asleep in the hospital bed. She absentmindedly put her hand to her head, where the surgery had been. She was sure they were in the same room, or a very similar one, within the hospital that she'd been in.

Her thoughts turned to Sam. Maybe he would have some thoughts on all this. She remembered their shower together, and blushed. She turned to Annika, her long, dark curly hair seemed to have taken on a bit of an auburn shade at its tips.

***

They returned a few days later and waited for the doctor in his office. There seemed to be something different about this meeting. "Why do you think they're taking so long?" Peta asked Hans.

He shook his head. "I don't know, this is strange."

Finally, the doctor came in, along with one of the consultants.

"Good afternoon Ms Fernsands, and Mr Schmidt. Please, take a seat," the consultant said, gesturing to the chairs beside his desk.

"Why aren't we having this meeting with Annika?" Peta asked. "She will want to know when the treatment will start."

The consultant took off her glasses, and looked at Peta carefully. "Ms Fernsands, this is your husband, yes?"

"Divorced," Hans said.

"Okay," the consultant said. "Divorced. Fine. But you have been together since...?"

"On and off since we were twenty-one," Peta said.

"Okay." The consultant paused. "Were you both trying for a child, when you fell pregnant with Annika?"

Peta looked at Hans. "Sorry but...where is this going?" She asked.

The consultant opened up her notes.

"With the father, or the mother, we would expect a 50% match for the bone marrow," she said, looking over her notes at them both. "Genetically, that's because your child is half you and half your partner."

"Right..." Hans said, looking confused.

"Well, when we undertook the tests on you, we found that you are not a match for Annika." The Consultant said.

Peta and Hans stared at her.

"But...," Peta said, slowy, "That would mean..."

"I'm...not her father?" Hans asked.

The consultant nodded. "I am sorry, Mr Schmidt."

Hans gripped the chair. "This...this can't be happening."

He looked at Peta. "Who else could it be?"

"No one," Peta said, her breath short and shallow, "none of the times match up."

"Actually, we saw a discrepancy in the notes," the consultant said. "Annika was supposedly six weeks early?"

"Yes," Peta answered.

"So looking at the records we have, she seems a large baby for that short length of time. I think she was full term," the consultant said carefully, "and that you both got the date of conception wrong."

Peta was breathing deeply now, and swinging back and forth in the chair.

"If Mr Schmidt is not the father...then we need to find the actual father."

Peta was wracking her brains. "I've only been with one other person in that time."

Hans looked at her, and tears were forming in his eyes.

"It must be Sam," Peta said, choking up a little. In her mind, there was an incredible battle. How could it be him? If it was him...would this be enough, finally, for them both to commit? There was relief. Relief. It washed over her. Her tears were not of sadness, but of joy.

"Hans..I am so sorry," Peta said, her own tears overwhelming her, and they embraced, knowing that things could never be the same again.

Hans tried to smile, through his own tears. "He was always the better father," he said. "She loves him very much."

"No," Peta said, "she is lucky to have had two fathers, and always will."

At this, Hans sobbed, and they embraced again, crying.

"If I may...time is not on our side," the consultant said. "Where is this Sam?"

"London, I hope," Peta said, opening her handbag and grabbing her phone, "maybe he will be available."

***

Nez heard it first and grabbed the phone. "Yo. Maillard residence."

"Nez?"

"Peta! Hey how are ya."

"I am okay," Peta's voice sounded a bit muffled, "I need to speak to Sam, it's urgent."

"He's just under the Volvo, I'll go and get him," Nez said, putting the phone on the counter.

Peta sighed. "He's under that bloody car," she said.

"I like his car," Hans muttered, in a rare moment of support for Sam.

"Hallo?"

"Sam! It's Peta."

"Hi," Sam said, smiling. "How's things?"

"They're...they're not great. Annika is very ill."

"I'm so sorry," Sam said, standing up straight and beckoning to Nez. "Plane tickets, Vienna," he mouthed. "Go and book, you, me, Claire and Adam."

"Huh?"

"Annika's sick, it's serious."

"Okay," Nez said, running off to the laptop.

"Nez is going to go book everything now, we will be on a flight tonight," Sam said.

"That's great, I appreciate it," Peta hesitated. "She really wants to see you."

"I really want to see her too," Sam said.

***

Sam's Austrian registered Polestar had been sitting dutifully in its garage in the centre of the city waiting for them. Adam loved the lights of Vienna, and as the roads of the city faded into the backroads of the countryside, the skyline against the mountains became orange, then red, and purple as they approached the old house in Birnbauerweg.

"Hans," Sam said, shaking his hand. "You remember my brother in law, and my son Adam. Adam's the short one," he said, to no laughter whatsoever.

"Yep, I can see why you slept with him, repeatedly," Hans muttered under his breath, Peta smacking his arm when Sam's back was turned.

"Is Annika in the hospital?" Sam asked. Peta nodded.

"We can all go and see her tomorrow."

"That's great," Sam said. "We can try and cheer her up, can't we Adam?"

His son nodded, holding onto Sam's leg.

Both families managed to get everyone to bed, Nez taking Adam upstairs, leaving Peta and Sam left in the kitchen, to talk. Peta knew what she wanted to say, but was finding it difficult to get the words out.

"I'm so sorry about Annika," Sam said.

"That's okay, I'm just grateful you came so quick," Peta said. They looked at each other awkwardly.

"It's been a while, right?" Sam said. Peta nodded.

"I'm sorry Sam," Peta said. "We really needed you here...in case...the worst happens." Grief overcame her. Sam embraced her.

"I'm here, we all are. We are here for you and for Annika." He said. Peta smiled gratefully, before bidding him goodnight and going to their rooms.

A little later, Peta looked at her phone, her fingers dancing across the screen as she carefully typed. "Sam..." she wrote. "Are you awake?"

Sam's response came swiftly, his fingers tapping out a reply. "Yes, I am."

A sense of loneliness washed over Peta, and she expressed her feelings in her next message. "I am feeling quite lonely up here."

Sam's response left her feeling frustrated. "Okay."

Peta's annoyance seeped into her words as she typed again. "Do you want to come up?"

Sam hesitated, his fingers poised over the keyboard. "That depends," he wrote.

"On what?" Peta fired back, her impatience evident.

"On whether this is to talk, or something else," Sam replied.

"It's something else." Peta affirmed.

Sam's fingers danced across the keys again. "Does the something else involve a lack of clothes?"

A playful laugh escaped Peta's lips as she began typing. "Maybe, if you get up here in the next ten minutes," she wrote. "Otherwise, I might close the door, and you won't get to see anything..."

Sam's heart raced, the urgency in Peta's words igniting a fire within him. But he was determined. He began typing, his words laced with determination. "I'm coming up."

A surge of excitement coursed through Peta's veins as she read his message.

"Good," she replied, her anticipation growing. "If you can, bring condoms."

Sam cursed himself for his forgetfulness.

Hans heard the steps creaking, and went to his door. He opened it, and turned on the light. Sam was stood there, frozen to the spot, in his shorts and clearly on his way to Peta's room. "You two are unbelievable," he said, both exasperated and laughing. "Just don't wake anyone up and don't break the bed."

"I might have been going to the bathroom," Sam retorted.

Hans let out a single "ha" and closed his door, switching the light off. There was a knock at the door. He sighed, and then opened the door. Sam stood there, trying to look innocent.

"Please don't ask me for a condom." Hans said.

"Okay, I won't ask," Sam said, holding his hand out and batting his eyelids.

Hans suppressed a laugh, and disappeared into the bedroom. He came back with a box.

"At least you make her happy," he said. Sam was surprised by the gesture.

"Danke."

"Bitte Schun," Hans said, retreating back to bed, locking the door behind him.

Sam shrugged, and made his way up to Petas bedroom. He gingerly opened the door. The room was bathed in a dim blue light, and he could see Peta lying on the bed, naked, facing him.

He grinned, closed the door, and made his way to the bed, dropping his shorts as he climbed over and behind her, running his hands around her beautiful buttocks, and kissing her along her back until he reached her head. She turned, and held his face close as they kissed.

"This reminds me of all those times I sneaked into your room when we first started dating," Sam murmured, caressing her body and putting his erection firmly between her thighs. Peta moaned as she felt him impale her, pressing her apart, and start quietly, gently, filling her spaces with his dick.

"I love this," she whispered, "I really needed you tonight. It's been so awful...but you always make me feel...so...alive," she gasped, as Sam pushed down on her buttocks with his whole frame and went deeper. She looked back sharply at him. "Condom?"

Sam hesitated. "I didn't put one on," he said. Peta paused, sighed, and then looked at him. "You absolutely must pull out this time." She looked at him knowingly.

"I could put one on," Sam offered. "Hans gave me a box."

"Hans gave you a box of condoms?!" Peta said, laughing. "I thought you hated each other?"

"He has his moments, and I'm a cheeky git, so," Sam said, pulling out and sheathing himself before reinserting his erection back into her. Peta moaned again, enjoying the penetration.

"It's been a while since I had sex...," she said, ruefully looking up at him.

"Was it the shower sex at the hospital?" Sam asked, slowly fucking her, his breaths as long and as deep as his dick was inside her.

"Ja, it was. You still find me attractive all of these years later...despite the scars?" Peta asked.

"Always," Sam replied, "to my dying days."

Peta blushed, madly. Sam turned her over, and she spread her legs wide, before wrapping them around him. She softly moaned into his ear as he sank his dick deep inside her once more, the slight curve of his shaft filling in a way only he could achieve.

Sam grunted loudly and gasped on top of her, the sensation of Peta squeezing herself around him driving him closer to climax. "We need to be...quieter..." Peta breathed, as Sam gently cupped her left breast and fondled it, leaning down to suck on the nipple as he fucked her, "you need...to be...oh....," she moaned, holding his head to her chest.

"I'm sorry...I've wanted this so badly...," Sam said, drawing back, and swaying his hips a little more roughly. Peta gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. He held her hips and fucked her harder, deeper. Peta groaned, arching her back into the sex and feeling breathless. She thought she could feel the condom straining inside her, and warned Sam to slow down.

Sam obeyed, drawing closer to her, looking into her eyes as he squeezed her into the sheets, pushing down on her wet clit, the back and forth of his girthy dick pushing her towards her own climax. Peta closed her eyes.

She could see every fucking, every blowjob, every moment of sexual tension and every moment they'd roughly coupled in their lives, playing like an old grayscale film across her psyche.

The sensuality of this sex was different, in every movement she felt a love and tenderness she'd desired her entire life.

The thought of that was too powerful, and Peta moaned, then squirted: Sam, realising her climax, carefully fucked harder, for himself, building to his climax, ejaculating with a silent gasp fully into the condom, inside Peta's sore, satisfied spaces.

When they'd finished, Sam got up to go, but Peta grabbed his hand and pulled him back into bed. "Not tonight," she whispered. "You stay here, with me."

Sam looked into her eyes."I always wanted to stay."

It felt like years of hurt and bad decisions were unravelling away, leaving something old and renewed, stirring. Sam looked at her, asleep in his arms. The woman he'd loved since they'd met on a beach as teenagers. This was all he'd ever wanted.

"I wish we'd got here sooner," he murmured, "maybe we can talk about the future..."

"Once we have Annika better," Peta said. "There's things we need to discuss, for sure."

Sam felt hopeful, as they fell to sleep.

***

The consultant looked around the room. "Okay, Mr...?"

"Maillard."

"Mr Maillard, could you stand here please."

Bewildered, Sam was guided to stand next to the sleeping Annika. The consultant arranged him to face the rest of the group. "Okay, stay there please."

She stood back, and turned to Peta and Hans.

"So for the record, I cannot understand how you didn't see this sooner."

Hans nodded, astonished. "Yes...it's really obvious."

"What is?" Sam asked.

"I definitely should have seen that sooner," Peta said.

"Seen what?" Sam asked.

"Okay, well, enough of that," the consultant said, clicking her pen. "Mr Mallaird, I need you to come with me."

Sam looked even more confused. "What's happening?"

The consultant sighed, looking at Hans and Peta with some frustration.

"You've not told him?"

"Well," Hans began, but Peta shook her head.

"I thought it would be better with you here."

The consultant sighed again."Do I have your permission to tell Mr Maillard why we are here?"

"Ja, danke," Hans and Peta replied in unison.

The consultant shook her head. "Unbelievable. Mr Maillard," she said, turning to the confused Brit, "You are here because Annika needs a bone marrow transplant. She is very ill. We have reason to believe that you are actually her father, and therefore you should be a 50% match for her. Peta cannot give hers as she had surgery only a short time ago."

"Oh...well...of course, test me," he said, holding out his arm.

They all stared at him. "You did hear me, right?" The consultant said slowly.

"Yes..." Sam said. "You need to test me because Annika needs a bone marrow transplant as she is very ill. You think I am the father and I could be a 50% match for her."

"Wait for it," Peta advised, sitting down in a chair and crossing her legs, watching Sam intently. "He always does this. When he's not fully paying attention, and hears something, he repeats it almost perfectly but it takes a while to sink in."

Sam looked at them blankly.

Hans tapped him on the shoulder. "They think you're Annika's father," he said.

Sam shook his head. "No, you're the father. They're only testing me to see if I'm a match."

Hans turned his head, owl like, with a confused look at Sam. "But you just said..."

"Don't," Peta said. "It'll come, just wait a bit."

Sam stood there, feeling confused. Then, "Oh my god," he said, eyes wide and staring at Peta. "What did she say?"

"This would make a great study one day in male attention span," the consultant said, "but Mr Maillard, I need you to fill these forms out."

Sam looked from one to another quickly, breathing shallowly. "I'm...you think...what?" He said weakly.

Peta got out of the chair, and took his hand gently. "Sam...we tested Hans. He's not Annika's biological father."

Hans nodded, tears forming in his eyes.

Sam stared at Hans, fighting back an urge to embrace him. "So...if not Hans..."

Peta looked into his eyes directly. "Look at her, Sam."

Sam turned, and looked at little Annika. Her dark brown hair was long and curly, with the tips turning to an auburn colour at the outer ends. He reached behind himself, grabbing his pony tail, and staring at his own dark brown strands, with auburn ends.

Annika blinked back into consciousness, and her blue eyes focused on Peta and Hans. Sam's blue eyes never left her.

"Does she know?" Sam asked. Peta shook her head.

"This is part of the wider discussion we need to have with everyone, once this is all sorted," she said.

Sam's eyes teared up too, and this time, he couldn't stop himself. He went over to Hans, and embraced him, and the two men fell into tears. "I'm so sorry," Sam said, choking on his sobs, "I'm so, so sorry."

"These things happen," Hans said, gently, "we are all to blame a little. I think I knew, but never wanted to say."

Sam nodded, and the two men split apart. He turned to the consultant. "Let's go and do these forms" he said, and turned to Peta. He hesitated, and then he kissed her. "I'll be back soon," he said.

Sam then went to Annika, who was looking confused. "Hey sweetheart," he said, bending down and giving her a kiss on the cheek." "I just need to go and do a few tests, but then you and I are going to play that word game we love, okay?"

"Danke," little Annika said sleepily, and closed her eyes.

Sam looked at Peta, his eyes teary. "Is it possible?"

"I mean," the consultant said, "if you're not the father at this point, it would be truly astonishing, given how much she looks like you, and apparently you are the - only - other man Ms Fernsands was with," she said, sternly looking at Peta.

"Please take him for the tests," Peta said, a bit blindsided by the reply.

The wait was agonising. They spent most of the afternoon in Annika's room, pacing. Eventually, the consultant returned.

"Well, Doc?" Sam asked. The consultant nodded. "You are indeed Annika's father."

Sam and Peta embraced, crying. "She's my daughter," Sam said, choked.

"She's our daughter," Peta said, holding his face in her hands and looking into his piercing blue eyes. "Ours."

Hans sat back, sadly. Sam went over to him. "You are ALWAYS going to be involved," he said firmly. "Always." Hans nodded.

"We need to start quickly, Mr Maillard," the consultant said. "This is a long road ahead for all of us."

"Whatever it takes, Doc," Sam said, gazing at his beautiful little girl, asleep in the hospital bed. "Whatever it takes."