Fragile9

Chapter 9

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At the beginning of May Danni, Amy, Anna and Claire were sat in Anna�s front room discussing the plans for Danni�s wedding in December. Westlife were in America doing promotional work and trying to crack the market. Amy looked at Claire and Anna. �You two look like two washed up whales� she said laughing.
�Oh shut up!� said Claire. �It�s not our fault!�
�So you�re blaming it on the guys?�
�Yes!� said Claire and Anna together.
�I can�t wait for this. I don�t think I can last another month� said Anna.
�You want Nicky to miss it?� asked Danni.
�If it means having the baby now then I don�t care whether he misses it or not. It�s so uncomfortable� replied Anna.
Danni ran over to Anna and started talking to her stomach. �Don�t come out just yet. Wait for another six weeks then your daddy will be here too.�
�Six weeks!� said Anna. �It better not be two weeks overdue!�
�How did we get from the topic of weddings to babies?� asked Amy.
�Does Shane want any kids?� asked Claire.
�He does� replied Amy. �He wants at least two but not yet. I want them when I�m at least 26.�
�Well your 23 now so you�ve got some time to yourself� said Danni.

Four weeks later, the guys come home. Nicky takes the kids to the Sealife centre for the day. Anna was at home cooking some lunch. She felt a sharp pain shoot through her back. She dropped her knife she was holding and went to the phone. �Nicky?� What�s up?� �I think you should get home now!� �Why?� �Because I�m having your baby now, get your arse home now!� Nicky put his phone down and told the kids they had to go. �I don�t want to!� Jordan screamed. Nicky phoned Shane who came to get the kids. �Do you mind staying here with them? They don�t want to go just yet.� �Yeah sure� replied Shane.

Nicky got in his car and headed for the motorway. �Damn!� He phoned Anna. �Perhaps you should go to the hospital now. I�ve just hit the motorway and all I can see in front of me is a jam.� �What?!� �Don�t worry. I�ll get off at the next slip road. I�ll be there in about an hour.�

Meanwhile, Claire went shopping in Tesco with Mark. �Can we go?� asked Claire. �Why?� �Unless you want your baby born in Tesco then you should get me to a hospital!!�

When they reached the hospital they saw Amy. �What are you doing here?� asked Mark. �I�m waiting for Nicky to get here� Amy replied. �He�s stuck in traffic.� �Why would he come here?� said Mark with a puzzled look on his face. �Why do you think?� asked Claire. Mark then realised.

Two hours later, Mark went to get a cup of tea. Nicky burst through the door. �Where have you been?� Mark asked. �That traffic was terrible! It was all over North London. Gotta go!� He went to talk to a nurse who took him to a room at the end of the corridor.

Early the next morning, Claire gave birth to what seemed a healthy girl. She named her Katie. That night at about six Anna had the boy that Nicky wanted. �I told you!� he said holding Nathan.

To celebrate the birth of their kids Nicky and Mark went to the pub and then on to a club. At two in the morning they were a little drunk so they sat down on a bench in the park. In the morning Mark woke up to a green ceiling. He was lying on a hard bench and he could hear someone breathing next to him. He sat up and looked at the walls. They were white with writing all over them. There was a single grey door on the opposite wall. He looked down to see who was next to him. �Nicky? Nicky wake up!� He shook Nicky awake. �What? Ouch my head!� �Never mind that. Where are we?� Nicky looked around. �Oh my god!!!� �What?!� �Mark? We�re in a cell!� �What?? We can�t be. We haven�t done anything wrong. That I know of anyway. I can�t remember much. Oh God Nicky what if we murdered someone? I�m gonna go to prison for life. But I can�t. I�ll lose every-� Nicky interrupts him. �MARK! Calm down. We�re not going to prison. We get one phone call so we can call Anto. He�ll get us out.� �He better do!� yelled Mark starting to panic all over again.

A couple of hours later Anto had got them out and they were making their way to see Anna and Claire. Mark walked in to where Claire was, but when he looked at her he could tell that something was wrong �Claire what�s up?� �Oh mark� as she said this she held out her arms to him, he went over and taking Claire in his arms he slowly rubbed her back �Tell me what�s wrong.� �It�s Katie there is something wrong with her� Claire started to cry as did Mark. A while later Anna walked in. �Where is she then?� she asked cheerfully. Claire started to cry again. �What�s wrong?� �Katie has leukaemia,� replied Mark.

The next day Anna and Nicky took Nathan home. The doctor had told Claire and Mark that Katie had needed a bone marrow transplant. They would first kill off all of Katie�s own bone marrow with radiotherapy first but in the meantime to ask people to be tested for a match. Nicky offered. Anna wanted to but she wasn�t allowed to because she had just had a baby. Anna and Nicky discussed Emily and Josh being tested as well.

That night the band was asked to sing a couple of songs at a show. The final song they sang was Fragile Heart:
A fragile heart, was broken before
I don't think it could endure
Another pain
But there's a voice from deep inside
Of you
That's calling out to make you realise
That this new bond gives inspiration
To all who feel no love appeal no more
So how can I break this wall around you
That's aiding both our hearts to grow in pain
So forget your past, and we can
Dream tomorrow Save our hearts for care and
Loving too
It's hard I know, but oh one things
For sure
Don't go and break this fragile heart
A hurting mind in need of emotion
I don't think I could endure
Another pain
But baby in you, I've found affection
Affection I have never felt before
So don't let your past
Destroy what comes tomorrow
Don't go and break this fragile heart
With all this fire that burns
Between us
There's so much to lose, yet so much
More to gain
And if I could choose a world
Around me
The world to choose, would all
Revolve around you
So help me complete the game
Inside me
And help to mend
To mend this fragile heart

All the guys felt the song and were nearly in tears by the end of it.

The day of the testing came up. Mark had a cold so he wasn�t allowed to be tested yet. Everyone had a sample of blood taken first. If their blood matched Katie�s then they would have to have their bone marrow tested. Mark felt useless. The tests came back three hours later. Everyone sat in Claire�s room waiting patiently for the doctor. Eventually he arrived. �There have been only three matches out of fifteen of you.� Both of Claire�s and Mark�s parents offered to be donors too, as well as the rest of Westlife, Yvonne, Danni, Owen, Steven, Josh and Emily. �They are:� he said looking at his notes. �Nicholas Byrne, Emily Byrne and Shane Filan. I�ll need to take some details from you and admit you to hospital tomorrow. We can only take a sample of your bone marrow under anaesthetic.� The doctor left and Mark turned to Nicky and Shane. �You will do this for me won�t you?� he asked them. �Of course we will mate,� said Shane.

Two days later Shane, Nicky and Emily were booked to have their operations. Neither of them were allowed anything to eat or drink so Emily was in a really bad mood. They weren�t scheduled to be in theatre until after lunch but the surgeon found a space in the morning for Emily. Both Anna and Nicky took her to the anaesthetic room. Only one person was allowed inside with her so Anna let Nicky go with her. �Are you sure?� he asked Anna. �Yeah.� Nicky went inside the room with Emily while Anna went to sit down and started to cry. Five minutes later, Nicky came back out. He sat down next to her and put his arm round her. He held her left hand with his and pulled her close. �She�ll be ok,� he whispered and kissed her on her forehead. �My throat is so dry,� Nicky croaked five minutes later as they headed back to the children�s ward to wait for Emily. �I need a drink.� �Tough! You�ll just have to live with it. It�s not for much longer anyway.� Nicky looked at his watch. �Four hours. It�s only ten o�clock now.� �Stop whining!� After half an hour Emily came out of theatre still fast asleep. �The marrow was taken out of her leg. It will be a bit sore for a few days but she�ll be fine. Just let her sleep it off now,� said the nurse and she left. Emily was in a side room on her own. Anna walked right over to her and wiped some of Emily�s hair out of her eyes. �It�s alright now baby,� she whispered to her, stroking her face.

Mark felt better so he had a blood test taken. His blood matched and he was booked in to have a bone marrow test. Katie was getting weaker as the radiotherapy she was having was killing all of her marrow and other cells.