New Beginnings

"No, you'll be sedated," Dr. Rhodes told her. "We just need to examine the marrow to see if there are leukemia cells in it. If there are, then we'll be running even more tests."

"Wow. More tests. I guess I better start studying," Allison deadpanned.

Her mom gave her a funny look then started laughing. Allison laughed, too, and Dr. Rhodes told her he liked her sense of humor.

"And I like looking at you," Allison said with a smile.

"Allison Michelle! What on earth is going on with you?" her mom said feeling embarrassed yet again.

"Hey, if I'm gonna croak, I may as well enjoy what's left of my life, right?" she said in a dry, sardonic kind of way.

"No one's dying, okay?" her mom said emphatically. "I don't want to hear that kind of talk again."

"Your mom's right," Dr. Rhodes told her.

"You may be totally hot, Doctor Rhodes, but not even you know everything," Allison told him.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor Rhodes," Margaux said now wildly embarrassed. "I've never seen her like this before."

He laughed politely then said, "It's quite all right. I prefer honesty to silence. And she's right. I don't know everything."

"You know who you look like?" Allison said as her mother stood there mortified knowing her daughter was going to tell him no matter what she said.

"Uh-oh," Dr. Rhodes said with a smile. "Something tells me I'm about to find out."

"The other Doctor Rhodes."

"I'm sorry?" he said.

"You know. On Chicago Med. Doctor Connor Rhodes. He's like the hottest guy ever," Allison informed him. "Although you're the hottest guy I've ever met in real life."

"Sorry, if it's a TV show, I haven't seen it. I don't get much opportunity to watch television these days. The last time I watched any was back in college," he told her politely. "But I'm going to consider that a compliment."

"If I don't die, and you're still single in a few more years, would you go out with me?" Allison asked as her mother put her hands over her face as her eyes bugged out.

Dr. Rhodes laughed then said, "Ask me in a few more years, okay?"

"Well, if you won't answer that question, would you go out with my mom?"

Margaux turned around then looked up at the ceiling as she said, "Serenity now!"

Dr. Rhodes laughed and said, "Seinfeld was one of the shows I did watch in college so i do understand that."

He waited for Margaux to turn back around then watched her shrug her shoulders and shake her head in disbelief.

"It's okay. Really," the young doctor told her.

He tapped on the metal guardrail on the bed then said, "I'm gonna go get this bone marrow test in the system and then we'll talk some more, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know when I'm being blown off," Allison said with a faint smile.

As Dr. Rhodes walked out Margaux gave 'a look' to her daughter then said, "Gimme one sec, okay?"

"Are you gonna ask him out?" Allison said trying her best to smile.

"Serenity now!" her mother said again not sure if her daughter knew the meaning behind it or not.

"Doctor Rhodes?" she called out as she chased him down.

He stopped and turned around and said, "Yes?"

"I um...I'm really sorry about what happened in there. I don't know why Allison is acting this way. She's normally quiet and kind of shy even."

"It's understandable," he told her. "She's facing a potentially traumatic diagnosis and sometimes, the brain does things we consider out of character to cope with something we find frightening or threatening. I wouldn't be overly concerned."

He waited then said, "Is there anything else?"

"No. I don't think so. I mean, I do have a million questions, but until we do the bone marrow test, I suppose they can wait."

"I agree. That will give us a much better feel for what's going."

He got ready to turn around and as he did Margaux said, "Allison was right, though."

He stopped, looked at her, then asked, "About?"

"You really do look like the TV Doctor Rhodes."

"I guess I'm gonna have to Google his name and find out who this Doppelgänger of mine is," the real Doctor Rhodes said with a smile.

He got ready to turn around again then stopped yet again and said something to Margaux.

"Speaking of television, you look very familiar to me, but I can't put my finger on it. And I would definitely remember your face," he told her with a smile.

"Is that because it's old as shoe leather?" she said trying to tease.

"Not hardly. It's...well, I've already told you so...."

"At my age, I don't mind hearing compliments a second or even third time," she told him playfully.

"Let's just say had we met under different circumstances, I wouldn't have needed your daughter's prompting to ask you out," he told her in a way that let her know he wasn't teasing.

"Oh, please!" she said with a laugh.

"It's the truth. I'm...very selective...about the women I date, and I would absolutely ask you out. But for now I really do need to run," he told her. This time he turned around and didn't stop.

Margaux stood there and watched him until he turned a corner and disappeared from view then thought, "That was...surreal."

Then again, the whole thing was surreal. Being in a hospital with her 14-year old daughter facing a diagnosis of cancer was definitely bizarre in and of itself.

"So what did you and the hunky Doctor Rhodes talk about?" Allison asked when her mom walked back in.

"I asked him if he thought you should be referred to a psychiatrist!" she said pretending to be upset with her previous comments.

Allison managed a weak laugh then asked very seriously, "Mom? Am I gonna die?"

Margaux put her arms around her daughter then held her close.

"No! Of course not. You're gonna be just fine," she assured her as much for her own sake as for her daughter's.

"I'm scared, Mom," Allison admitted.

"Me, too, honey, but we'll face this together, whatever it is. And it's possible this is nothing too serious. So let's stay positive no matter what."

She pulled back, put her hands on Allison's shoulders then said, "Deal?"

"Deal," her daughter told her with a nod of her head before holding out her arms for another hug.

"I love you, Mom," she said quietly.

Margaux swallowed hard before saying, "I love you, too, sweetie."

Four hours passed without so much as a peep from a doctor or nurse. Unable to wait any longer, Margaux went to the nurses station on the second floor to ask what was going on.

"Doctor Rhodes has ordered the bone marrow biopsy, but he got called away to do an emergency procedure. He should be back within the hour," the nurse told her.

Margaux thanked her then went back to let Allison know what she'd found out. To her surprise, her ex-husband, Mark, was standing next to their daughter.

"Marg! Sorry I didn't call. I heard Allie was in the hospital and came straight here."

"How did you hear? I didn't call you," Margaux, who hated being called 'Marg', told him.

"Abbie called me," he said. "And before you get angry at her—don't. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at me. Or rather...stay angry at me."

"No, I'm not angry," his ex-wife said. "I'm glad you came."

"Speak for yourself, Mom," Allison said with contempt in her voice.

"Honey, how many times do I have to apologize for what I did?" her father asked.

"I'll let you know," she said, her arms crossed as she refused to look at him.

"Is this a bad time?" they all heard.

Everyone turned around to find Dr. Rhodes standing near the door.

"No. Not at all," Margaux said. "Um...Doctor Rhodes? This is my ex-husband, Mark...Van der Waal. Mark, this is Allison's doctor, Doctor Rhodes."

"Just like the guy on Chicago Med, huh?" he said as he stuck his hand out. As the doctor shook it, Mark asked, "Your first name isn't Connor, is it?"

"No, sorry. It's Archer."

He was so used to the response he typically got, he didn't bother explaining when Mark said, "Wow. That's...unusual."

Both his ex-wife and his daughter rolled their eyes but didn't say anything.

"Okay. I think we're ready to do the biopsy now. We're going to need your mom to sign the consent form then we'll take you to an OR where we'll give you a drug called Diazepam to put you under for a few minutes while we go in for the marrow. So no, it won't hurt."

"Cool," Allison said.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Mark asked.

Doctor Rhodes gave him a quick rundown of what he'd done so far and what they were about to do.

"Jesus. Allison has...cancer?"

"We don't know that yet, Mark," his ex-wife said.

"But what if it is? How serious is this? What's next?"

"Once we have the bone marrow we'll have a much better idea of what we're looking at," Dr. Rhodes explained again before telling Allison someone would be in to get her prepped in a few minutes.

The procedure itself was done a little over an hour later, but it wasn't until the next morning that they had the results.

"Is your husband...sorry, ex-husband here, Mrs. Van der Waal?" Dr. Rhodes asked when he came in around 8am the following morning holding a tablet in his hands.

"He's at work," Allison said. "He's always at work. Unless he's screwing someone a lot younger than...."

"He won't be here," Margaux said cutting her daughter off in mid-sentence. "So...what are we looking at?"

"Allison? You have what is called Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML for short. AML starts in the bone marrow, but in most cases it quickly moves into the blood. So that means we'll need to do PET and CT scans to find out whether or not the cancer has spread to other parts of the body."

"And if it has?" Margaux asked barely able to breathe.

"Then we'll treat it very differently than if it's still confined to the bone marrow. I should point out it's rare for someone your age to be diagnosed with AML. The average age is for patients with AML is 67. The biggest concern for younger people is the rapid rate at which the cancer cells grow. The good news is the survival rate for younger people is much higher than for those over 50."

"You mentioned a PET scan," Margaux said trying to take it all in.

"Yes. We'll also do a CT scan then combine them to get the best possible diagnosis. From there, you'll be referred to an oncologist, a cancer specialist, who will determine your course of treatment," the doctor explained.

"But I don't want another doctor," Allison told him. "I want you to be my doctor."

He turned toward her then told her as gently as he could, "Sorry. That's just not possible. I'm an internist so when it comes to cancer, I definitely don't know everything."

The attempt at humor worked and got Allison to laugh weakly.

"You see? You're hot and you're funny, and you make me feel better," she told him.

"That's just because he looks like the other Doctor Rhodes," her mom said trying to smile.

"See, my mom thinks you're hot, too," Allison told him with a smile.

He glanced at Margaux who smiled then said, "Okay, fine. I'm guilty. So shoot me!"

Her daughter laughed again as Dr. Rhodes told her he'd get the CT and PET scans in the system and that a nurse would stop by and explain the procedures for both.

Margaux thanked him again then settled in for another long wait. Allison fell asleep a couple of hours later, and that's when Margaux realized how hungry she was. It was the perfect time to get to the cafeteria and get something to eat as there was no way she was leaving the hospital until Allison could leave with her.

She had no trouble finding it, and after looking through the available choices ordered a salad that looked reasonably fresh. Seeing nothing else that interested her, she grabbed the freshest-looking bagel she could find along with some cream cheese to spread on it along with a bottle of water then paid for it all and sat down.

She had no idea how exhausted she was until she did so, and that's when she realized she could really use a cup of coffee. She wasn't surprised to see a Starbuck's counter at the other end of the cafeteria as the company was based in Seattle and had a store (or two) on what seemed like every block of every city within a fifty-mile radius.

"Put hers on my tab, would you, Sarah?" she heard a familiar-sounding voice say as she stood in line waiting to order.

"Doctor Rhodes! What a pleasant surprise," she said when she turned around and saw him standing behind her.

"You just stole my line," he told her as he fished out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to the girl at the register. She went to hand him his change and he waved politely indicating she could keep it.

"May I join you?" he asked without assuming he could.

"I'd like that," Margaux said. "I'm right over there."

"Oh, wow. Hospital food. You're very brave," he said when he saw her salad and bagel.

"I don't have a whole lot of options, and I was getting desperate," she said as he waited for her to sit down.

"If both of us weren't stuck here, I'd invite you—and Allison—out to dinner at a real restaurant," he told her with a smile.

"That's very kind of you to say," she told him wondering why he said that and what, if anything, it meant.

"I'm not just saying it out of kindness," he let her know.

Margaux didn't respond, but not because it offended her, it just took her completely by surprise.

"I'm very sorry, Mrs. Van der Waal. That was wholly inappropriate. You're here with daughter under some very difficult circumstances, and I had no right saying that."

"No, I didn't take offense, Doctor. I just wasn't sure I heard you right," she said as she tried not to stare while she compared his face to his TV double.

"I won't bring it up again, but I would love to have dinner with you sometime," he told her sincerely.

"You mean...as...in a date?" she asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Well, I think that's what they call it. I haven't been on one in so long I'm not really sure, but yes, I believe that's still the correct term."

Margaux was never at a loss for words, and yet she couldn't think of a single thing to say until she blurted out, "It can't be as long as since the last time I was on one."

Doctor Rhodes smiled then told her, "I'm presuming you're referring to your ex-husband and the last time he and you went on a date?"

"I am," she told him. "I don't even want to think about what you might have been doing back then."

The handsome doctor laughed politely then said, "I guess that depends on when your last date was, but it won't make a bit of difference to me regardless of when that might have been."

Margaux also laughed politely then told him, "You're very kind and you've made me feel...well, almost reasonably good, considering the reason we're here talking to one another."

"Then I'm glad," he told her. "I wish I could offer something more positive where Allison is concerned, but I have to tell you honestly that cancer, in any form, is always a very serious thing."

Before Margaux could start peppering him with questions he said, "I want to let you know, too, that medicine has made huge advances when it comes to treating leukemia and other blood cancers. What once was a nearly always a death sentence is now routinely curable."

He paused momentarily then added, "In most cases."

"It's somehow not very comforting knowing the odds on your side, you know?" she said.

"I understand. When it comes to odds, it's purely statistical. The reality is that the chances are either zero or one-hundred percent, but since we can't know which it is ahead of time in any specific case, we can only offer something as cold and impersonal as one's 'chances' and that isn't exactly comforting."

"Doctor Rhodes? In your professional opinion, what are Allison's chances? And please, don't pull any punches."

"Sure. Well, here's the dry, statistical truth: About 90 percent of children with AML have no cancer cells in their blood after induction. Induction is the first in a series of therapeutic measures taken to treat a disease. AML later returns in about 20 percent of these cases. Five-year survival rates range from 65 to 75 percent. Many of those have complete remission and the cancer never returns."

"So...it's just a waiting game now, right?"

"In one sense, yes. We have to wait on test results then wait to see what kind of effect they have on Allison. But we won't do any waiting when it comes to aggressively treating the cancer. We'll do everything humanly possible. I'm not a cancer specialist, but I'll always be available to you if you have questions even though your oncologist will be the best person to answer them."

"You're very kind," she told him. "And Allison is right, you know."

"About?" he asked as he sipped his black coffee.

"You really are a very handsome man," she said wondering if she was too tired to think.

"Thank you. And for the record, you're a very beautiful woman," he told her again.

"Oh, sure. With my crow's feet and laugh lines and.... Yeah, I'm really...what do the kids say? Oh, right. I'm really 'all that', huh?" she said trying to smile.

"Too often women place far too much emphasis on tiny little things only they notice," he told her as he took a closer look and saw only the slightest hint of some soft lines around her very pretty eyes.

"Maybe that's because they actually exist and we can't help but notice them," she offered still being very polite.

"You're much too harsh on yourself, Mrs. Van der Waal," he said with a smile as he drained the last of his cup. "And I'm running late."

As he stood up, Margaux said, "Doctor Rhodes? Would you mind calling me by my first name? It's...Margaux."

"Like Hemingway, right?" he said with a smile.

"Yes, but without the model-like looks or the drug overdose," she said politely with another smile.

"You see, there you go again putting yourself down. I remember her from a couple of old movies I watched back in high school, and trust me, you're every bit as attractive as she was."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," Margaux teased. "But again, you lifted my spirits."

"I really do need to run," he told her. "I'm glad we had the chance to talk, though, Margaux. Maybe one day it will be under more pleasant circumstances."

"Well, if you don't come to your senses before then, perhaps we might be able to do that," she said smiling as best she could.

"I'd like that," he told her. "So...rain check?"

"Around here? Ha! That's very funny," she said referencing the rain that kept the area a beautiful green year-round.

"Good point!" he said as he walked away. "I'll get with you on the next steps as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay. And thank you, Doctor Rhodes," she called out to him.

"Oh, my name's Archer, by the way," he called back.

She did the bow and arrow thing and Doctor Archer Rhodes did the eye roll thing back.

"How childish was that?" Margaux said quietly to herself knowing he'd probably heard or seen something similar a thousand times in his young life and found it annoying after the first time.

She had to admit it was a fitting name, though. At least in the sense that it had a very strong, masculine tone to it as Doctor Archer Rhodes was a very strong, masculine-looking man. She didn't think he was the bodybuilder type, but she could definitely see him playing pickup basketball or maybe squash with some friends at a country club.

The thought of him in a preppy-looking white sweater and a pair of white shorts with white tennis shoes and white socks holding a squash racquet made her smile. And as she imagined him that way it also made her feel something deeper—something very warm and very pleasant; something she hadn't felt in a very long time

She shook her head, cleared her mind, then went back to her 'meal' and ate as much as she could stand before throwing the rest away.

She knew she was really tired when she thought about 'the starving kids in China' as she wondered if that was still the country parents used to guilt their children into finishing everything on their plates as though the scraps could be boxed up and sent to them before the food rotted. Well, wherever those starving children were these days, she wouldn't inflict hospital food on them under any circumstance.