EFFA
Eight Days Later
After we discussed Kiera’s treatment as a family, we made an early appointment with her specialist the next day in Pittsburgh and took the hour drive up there to see him and his team. Needless to say, the day was eye-opening. Mercs and Kiera were walked through everything they would need to go through for the transplant, and while Mercs gets out of it relatively unscathed, Kiera’s preparation for the transplant is not as easy, and not without risk.
Once Kiera goes in for the transplant procedure, she will be in the hospital for weeks until it is deemed safe for her release. Even after she is released, she will need to stay in Pittsburgh as the doctors will want to see her daily to check on her platelet counts, as some take longer to return to a safe level, and she may need a platelet transfusion. There’s so much to do, so much to think about, but the risks will be worth the end result. Because in the end, she will be better, she will be cured, and Mercs will have his sister back to full health, and that is what we all want.
While we were there, they thought it best to harvest Mercs’ stem cells seeing as we had researched everything and were ready to go. Mercs had fasted and prepared in case the harvest was to go ahead. So Kiera, Gran and I sat in a waiting area while Mercs went into an operating room and had a giant needle inserted into his spine. I swear I’ve never been more nervous in my life. Knowing that with any wrong move, with one slip of the needle, Mercs could be permanently injured—it had me on edge the entire time. But Gran and Kiera kept me calm while we waited. The procedure took about an hour and a half and then he went into recovery while the anesthesia wore off.
Eventually, we were able to go and see him. He looked tired and in a bit of pain. They gave him some pain relief, and we sat with him until he was released later that night. We stayed in Pittsburgh, close to the hospital, just in case, and then I drove us home the next morning. Poor Mercs has had lower back and hip pain ever since, but he tells me it’s easing with each day. The plus to all this is now his stem cells are frozen and ready to go for Kiera. She has to undergo a high-intensity chemo treatment to destroy any remaining cancer cells in the body before the frozen stem cells are thawed and given as a blood transfusion. The stem cells will fuse into Kiera’s bone marrow and start to grow and make new blood cells.
Normally within a short time after the stem cells have been infused, they start making new white blood cells. Followed by new platelets and, several weeks later, new red blood cells. Over a six to eight week period, she should feel improvements in her health. But give her six months, and she should be feeling much, much better and gain back her full strength.
I can’t wait for that day to come, but for now, Kiera’s undergoing a massive round of chemo, and it’s hitting her hard. It’s difficult to watch her so ill, but we know it’s worth it for the ultimate outcome.
But that was six days ago, now it’s Saturday morning, and we’ve been back in Ligonier for just over a week. We’ve been keeping to ourselves mostly, and not getting in the way of the town’s general day to day affairs. We don’t want to impose, but as is customary every Saturday morning since the end of May through to the first weekend in October, The Country Market is on at Loyalhanna Watershed Farm. It apparently has loads of vendors selling fresh produce, but more importantly, stuff that appeals to me like candles, hand-crafted jewelry, and country crafts. Plus, pastries and hot cooked foods, which is always a bonus. So all of us are on our way out there to have a look around and mingle with the locals at their weekly event. I think it will be fun to look around. A girl can never have enough candles.
Even though we want to try to keep a low profile, the fact we’re all turning up in a convoy of black sedans will hopefully not draw as much attention for us as our usual Hummer would have. But we’ve told Raoul and the other drivers to park at the back, so hopefully, people won’t see the cars, and we can all walk into the market relatively unnoticed.
Our car pulls up, and I reach out grabbing Mercs’ hand for comfort. He squeezes it, and I smile at him as he nods letting me know he’s doing okay. Raoul gets out of the front of the sedan and opens the back door to let us out, and Alana is the first to exit. I follow and look out to the car park to see a flurry of activity. Smiling wide, I chew on my bottom lip in excitement as I turn back to see Mercs stepping out a little slower than he usually would. His back seems to still be aching, so I reach for his hand as he looks at me and grins.
“You ready?” he asks as a couple of passersby smile and wave to us. Seems the town folk is used to the idea of having celebrities in town. I wave back as Alana waves as well.
“Hi Mrs. Foster, so good to see you again,” Alana calls out.
I raise my brow that Alana knows who they are. But then again she’s been spending her time getting to know everyone. Good on her I say.
Jay and Tank walk up to us. “So what should we expect? There won’t be people with no teeth here will there?” Jay asks making me crease my brows as Mercs snorts and shakes his head.
“Fucking hell! What do you think this is, Jay? It’s just like any other market. The whole town will be here,” Mercs advises as he looks to Jay shaking his head.
“How come Gran and Kiera didn’t come?” Kristy asks stepping out of her sedan right next to ours.
“Kiera’s feeling flat after her chemo. The walking around would have been rough for her today. She’s going to have days that are worse than others,” Mercs replies.
I hear the deflation in his tone and somber look in his eyes. I’m sad she couldn’t come, but she was really pale this morning, so I’m sure resting is the best medicine for her right now.
She needs to build her strength, but once she’s through all this, she will be fighting fit.
Luke slides out of his car and moves in next to Alana, as Andi and Casey slide out of the car Kristy was in.
“There’s only two of us here. We don’t expect anything to happen, but we want you all to stay together as a group. No disappearing on me,” Raoul demands and I smile at him and nod.
“Yes, sir.” I fake a salute, and he frowns, so I quickly drop my hand and try to hide my smirk by biting my lip.
“Right, let’s go,” Cooper instructs walking to my left as Raoul flanks us on the right.
We head to the market, and it’s truly alive and buzzing. People are everywhere. The stalls look amazing, and I love the vibe. We leisurely stroll through the aisles checking things over. We pass a stall that’s selling Pennsylvanian’s famous pierogi.
“Oh, I need some of this,” I call out, halting everyone and buying a few for us all to munch on the potato and cheese dumplings as we wander around the rest of the market.
Finally, we come to the candle and jewelry stands. The girls and I are in our element. The guys stand back and let us look over the stalls, and start to chat amongst themselves.
There are candles for calming, some for energy, some for healing. I love them all. I totally don’t need any of them, but I buy one of each making Mercs laugh as I keep shoveling money at the vendors. I’m having a ball, and I can see myself coming here every Saturday while we’re here just to check out any new merchandise. My suitcase will be twice the size when we leave than when we showed up. Oh, who am I kidding, I’ll probably have to buy another one.
I’m busy chatting with one of the vendors about how a jasmine and juniper candle would be a great addition to her stall when suddenly a wave of heat flashes over me. It feels like an inferno of flames is incinerating my body, washing over every nook, every crevice, and every pore floods with sweat as I take deep, steadying breaths. It’s so forceful I stumble on the spot and have to reach out to the stand in front of me and take hold before I fall over. My head is spinning in a dense fog.
Mercs is by my side instantly as I hurtle my candles into his arms and yank my tunic over my head, leaving me in my tiny shoe string top and harem pants.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Mercs asks while looking me over as I fan myself frantically trying to cool myself down.
All the people around us turn and look at me.
“Hot! So hot,” I murmur trying to take in some much-needed air as I lean against the table.
Mercs hands the candles to Raoul who’s observing me with deep lines in his forehead. Mercs steps up to me, pressing his hand to my forehead. “You’re sweating again, just like last week. This is another one of those hot flashes, baby.”
I nod and take a deep breath as Luke turns around and raises his brow finally taking in the commotion. “What the fuck! Effa, are you okay?” he calls out rushing to my side, but he is a little too loud, and everyone in close proximity turns to look at what’s going on. Drawing attention to me makes me feel even hotter as another wave of heat swarms over my entire body.
Mercs grabs hold of me.
“Effa?” Alana gulps as she too rushes to my side.
“I’m fine, guys, just a little hot.” I try to play it down, but I know as well as Mercs does that this means I’m going to have to call my specialist. My headaches are lingering, and this is my second hot flash in a week.
Something’s not right.
“I’ll get you a drink,” Andi calls out rushing off to the closest vendor.
Mercs looks to me, still holding onto me tightly. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. Let’s keep going. I don’t want to stop. I’m having too much fun to let this ruin our day.”
He frowns and shakes his head. “Effa—”
“Kaden… please…”
“Here’s some water, Eff,” Andi interrupts running up to me and shoving the bottle in my face.
I smile taking it from her, undoing the lid and downing a long sip, the cool liquid refreshing my warm body almost instantly. I let out a long sigh as everyone watches me and I smile.
“There, I feel better already. No need to fuss.”
“I really think we need to make a call—”
“We’re out with our friends, and we can call this afternoon when we get back to the house, Mercs. It’s fine. I’m fine. Let’s just keep going. Okay?”
He tilts his head and takes on a look like he wants to yell at me, but then he gazes over to Luke, who has pretty much the same look as Mercs and they both pause for a second or two in thought.
“We will be cutting this short, though. And you will be ringing as soon as we get back home, Effa. No arguments,” Mercs demands.
“I promise.” I lean in and kiss his cheek.
“You look better now, less red in the face,” Alana informs.
“Yeah, I feel better,” I admit honestly and then take another long sip of my water.
We head off, with Mercs walking right next to Luke and me and Raoul next to him. Alana is on my other side. Seems they’re all concerned, and I guess I don’t blame them.
I scared them.
I get it.
I must admit when I felt dizzy there for a second I scared myself. But I’m fine now. Really. I’m trying to convince myself that this is nothing, and everything is going to be okay.
We continue on, me being watched like a hawk for another hour until they loosen their reigns a little, venturing further away from me to check out other market stalls.
Mercs is off with Luke, deep in conversation, probably talking shop. Tank and Jay are with Andi and Casey looking at a T-shirt stall. Alana is with Kristy at the stall next to me looking at deep fried something. While I continue to look at the fresh peach and vanilla scented candle. I have absolutely no use for it, but it smells so divine I keep wondering where I could put it. I sniff the candle once more before deciding to place it back, thinking that I’ve bought enough candles to last a lifetime today.
“I think you and peach would work well together,” a deep voice hums from behind, startling me. I jump and turn to see a tall, very broad shouldered, well-built man, standing facing me. A baseball cap sits backward on his head, and a piece of wheat or something is hanging out of his mouth as he chews on it. Opening my eyes wide, I clear my throat taken aback by this monster of a man. I knew they bred country boys tough, but this guy’s like a freaking Mack truck. And not so bad on the eye either.
“Oh, umm… thanks, I think. But I’ve already bought way too many candles today. One of the guys is carrying my haul for me. So I really don’t need another one, but it sure does smell pretty.”
“So, I haven’t seen you around here before. You new in town?” he asks.
I thought everyone knew who we were by now.
“Oh… um… just passing through. We’ll be here for a month or two then we’ll be heading on. But, so far we love it here. You a local?”
He nods. “Yes ma’am, born and raised. Been here all my life. I left town recently for work, but I came back last night after being gone for a few months. Missed this place like hell. So glad to be back… especially now.” He looks me up and down in a way that says he certainly is happy to see me, and I swallow hard looking over to where Mercs and Luke are, hoping Mercs will look over.
“Well, we’ve certainly had nothing but welcomed hospitality since we’ve shown up.”
He smiles with a nod. “Oh, yeah, Ligonier’s will do that. We take people in and show them a good time…” He places his hands in his pockets. “If you, ah… need anyone to show you ‘round, I’d be happy to lend you my arm.”
I shake my head as I hear footsteps move up and suddenly Kaden is by my side, his face stern as he pulls me to him. The guy in front of me stiffens, the piece of wheat dropping from his mouth as he looks to Mercs and sighs placing out his hand for him to shake.
I raise my brow as I watch Mercs hesitate for a moment, but then his hard stance softens and he moves his hand out and shakes it with the burly man.
“Kades, it’s so fucking good to see you, man.”
“Johnny… it’s been a while.” Kaden’s voice is low like he’s not sure how to play this.
Opening my eyes wide, I gasp slightly, as I look around noticing everyone’s watching the interaction between these two men. People talking in hushed whispers just like they did when Mercs first had a run in with Lilah at the diner. And it’s only now that I hear Mercs say his name that I realize who this guy is—Johnny, his ex-best friend. The guy that Lilah cheated with. The guy that ruined his relationship with the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
There’s definite tension in the air, but it’s nothing like the strain when Lilah’s around. I feel like this tension is more out of not knowing where either of them wants this to go.
Johnny’s the first to make a move. “Kades, look… I know all the shit that went down...” he pauses and then continues, “… man, I just want you to know that shit wasn’t cool. Lilah and me… we never intentionally set out to hurt you,” he says while shaking his head.
I wince as I glance to Kaden and he nods. “No, I know. Doesn’t change the fact that it happened, though, Johnny.”
Johnny sighs and looks to the ground. “We stopped seeing each other out of respect for you, and what we did to you, Kades. And the fact that Lilah was still in love with you didn’t help matters. I couldn’t compete for her affections, man, it was only ever you.”
Kaden shakes his head wrapping his arm around me and lets out a bemused laugh. “The thing is Johnny, you and Lilah did me a favor. Without you guys doing what you did, I wouldn’t have been able to leave and find true love. Because when you find it, Johnny…” Kaden looks down at me, and I smile at him, “… it really takes your breath away. So if you want to pursue something with Lilah, then go for it, man. Don’t hold back out of respect for me, because I certainly don’t want to be the one thing that keeps you guys back from finding true love with each other. Would I have been pissed before? Yeah… but now?” He shakes his head holding me a little tighter. “Now, hell no. I have a woman standing next to me that’s worth everything. You should be happy, too. If that’s with Lilah, then so be it.”
I glance up at him feeling a wave of pride washing over me. He’s come so far, my man. Normally, he’d be the type to shove Johnny up against the wall and yell in his face, but he’s talking to him with respect and letting him move on with his life. Perhaps, I’m finally having a calming effect on Kaden.
“Honestly Kades, I thought the first time I clapped my eyes on you I’d have scored a black eye. I’m glad we talked this out like men, like brothers. I miss you, man. I’d like it if we could grab a brew some time and catch up properly?” Johnny asks, the look in his eyes hopeful.
Mercs lets go of me and steps up to Johnny, reaching out grabbing him by the back of the neck and pulling him in for a man hug, full of back-slapping and all. I giggle as the town folk all smile and chat amongst themselves. “That’d be great, Johnny. But do me a favor… fight for Lilah, okay? Don’t lose her if you want her,” Kaden says as he pulls away from Johnny.
Johnny nods and slaps Kaden on his arm. “Thanks, you don’t know how much seeing you has meant to me. I’ll leave you with your girl…” He pauses. “Sorry for hitting on her. If I’d known she was yours I never would have. I hope you know that?”
Kaden nods. “Just don’t make a habit of it. Use your seduction powers on Lilah, you’ll eventually wear her down.”
Johnny chuckles as does Kaden. “Right, I’ll leave you to it. Catch ya ‘round.” And with that Johnny turns and walks away.
I spin in Kaden’s arms and face him, he looks down at me, and I smile raising my brow. “That was super impressive,” I tell him.
He tilts his head. “Was it?”
I snort. “You didn’t beat his ass, you kept your cool… I actually found your inner calm kinda hot.”
He shrugs, wrapping his arms around me and looking deep into my eyes. “I figure, I’m happy. I have you. I shouldn’t hold onto grudges. I need to let it go.”
“Well then, Mister Calm, I think you need to kiss me. Right here. Right now.”
He smiles and leans in kissing me hard. My tongue darts out and dances with his right here in the middle of the markets, with all of Ligonier watching and gossiping. But I don’t care. I want them to know Kaden’s mine, and I’m his, and no one’s going to come between us.
Not Lilah.
Not Johnny.
Not Jett.
No one!
We’re strong together, and now I just want to show him how much my body needs him as well as my mind, heart, and soul.