“The doctor stopped by a few minutes ago,” Aster said, looking at me.

I tried not to panic, but my heart raced anyway.

“Any news?”

“He wants to start chemo.”

It felt like a grenade had hit my heart. I walked slowly to the farthest chair from the bed and sat. Once again, the urge to scream took over. The days had already been hard. Now I knew the truly difficult ones were coming.

“After chemo… we’d need a compatible donor ready,” Simone said gravely.

I looked at Simone, then ...