Serenity

[LoveMrsG]

Okay...here I am at it again! I'm taking a short break from The Fifth Floor for a little while (don't worry, I WILL come back to it) and I'm going to try my hand at another, less emotional, MUCH SMALLER fanfic. (I know, everybody who knows me is going, "Yeah, RIGHT!!!" right now. )

Serenity takes place towards the end of season four and (I hope anyway!) will play out like a regular, half-hour episode...maybe a two-parter. And maybe I should give you guys a summary, but I feel like I'd spoil the whole first chapter if I did so I'll let you read it for yourselves. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One
It was an uneventful spring day in March, 1983. The beauty of the evening sun and the lush green Peekskill landscape could be seen through the tall windows of the Eastland cafeteria, but neither Natalie Green nor her best friend Tootie Ramsey were in the mood to appreciate it. Both Natalie and Tootie had jobs helping the school dietician, Mrs. Edna Garrett, prepare all the meals for all the faculty and students and clean up in the kitchen and the cafeteria, along with their other two roommates, Jo Polniaczeck and Blair Warner. After they all had gotten into trouble stealing and hotwiring the school van and thrown into jail three years ago, it was Mrs. Garrett who had saved them from complete expulsion from Eastland. They all were put on six months of probation and made to work for Mrs. Garrett in the kitchen and cafeteria until they paid off all the damage they had eventually done to the school van, and although they had already paid the van off the year before, all four girls still worked together under Mrs. Garrett and planned to do so until they graduated. But today, in Natalie’s and Tootie’s world, they weren’t exactly happy about those plans because Jo had been outside in the parking lot working on a problem with her bike ever since classes let out, and Blair had had to go to the city for a doctor’s appointment and for the moment, both Natalie and Tootie were stuck behind with all their chores.
“Hi, girls,” Edna said cheerfully as she entered the cafeteria.
“Hi,” Natalie and Tootie replied glumly.
“Why the long faces?” Edna asked.
“Because we’re stuck with Blair and Jo’s chores all day, that’s why,” Natalie responded.
“Now girls, you could be a little more understanding, you know. You know that Blair had to go to the doctor today and Jo really does need to get her bike fixed. Besides, they’ve done your work for you in the past, too. Remember that Bruce Springsteen concert you both just had to go to a couple of months ago? Who was it that took over all your chores that evening so you could go?”
“It was Jo and Blair, Mrs. Garrett,” Tootie gave a defeated sigh. She and Natalie knew then that Edna had definitely won the argument.
“That’s right. They had things they’d have rather done that Saturday evening, but after you begged them to, they took over for you,” Edna reminded them.
“After I kept begging and pleading with Blair, she actually gave in and passed up a date with that hunk ex-boyfriend of hers, Robert.”
“And for Blair, that’s really saying something when she passes on a date with a hunk. Yeah, I guess you’re right, Mrs. Garrett. It wouldn’t kill Tootie and me to take over for them this afternoon,” Natalie sullenly agreed.
In that next moment, the phone in the lounge rang.
“I’ll get it,” Mrs. Garrett told the girls, and then she left the cafeteria and went to the lounge and picked up the phone.
Meanwhile, Natalie kept on mopping the floor like she had been and Tootie, who had been cleaning off the tables, walked over closer to the lounge and pretended to start scrubbing the wall with the same rag she’d been cleaning the tables with.
“Tootie, get back here!” Natalie whispered. “You know you shouldn’t eavesdrop on Mrs. Garrett’s conversation!”
“There’s a spot on this wall I have to clean up,” Tootie innocently claimed, but Natalie knew it was bull. Tootie was the biggest gossiper in the entire history of Eastland and everybody knew it.
When Natalie stopped yelling at Tootie long enough for Tootie to lean in and listen to the conversation, all she heard Mrs. Garrett say was, “Thank you very much for calling, doctor. I’ll be sure and tell Blair what you said when she gets in. Goodbye.” When Tootie heard Mrs. Garrett hang the phone up in the next second, she was sure to rush back over to the table she was cleaning before so Mrs. Garrett wouldn’t know she’d been listening, or trying to listen.
“Girls,” Mrs. Garrett said when she walked back into the cafeteria with a pretty worried look on her face, “did Blair say to either one of you why she was going to the doctor today?”
“I thought she was going for a physical,” Tootie replied.
“Me, too,” Natalie concurred.
“Well according to Blair’s family doctor, she’s having surgery this Wednesday.”
“Oh boy, you guys,” Jo sighed as she walked into the cafeteria, her face and hair a mess covered with oil and grease. “I’m gonna be at work on my bike all night.”
“Forget about your bike, Jo,” Tootie told her. “We have something way more important going on here.”
“Like what?” asked Jo.
“Blair told everybody that she was just going into the city to see her doctor today for a physical,” Natalie started explaining.
“Yeah?” Jo said.
“But it’s got to be something more serious,” Natalie continued, “because her doctor just called here and told Mrs. Garrett that Blair was having surgery in two days. Something could be wrong with Blair – seriously wrong. Why else would she keep it a secret?”
“What if she has some sort of rare disease like in that horror movie we all saw last weekend, that turned almost everybody in the entire country into vampire zombies? Don’t you guys remember? The only way to get rid of the disease was for the infected people to have this operation that took a big chunk of their necks out where they’d been bitten and infected by another vampire. What if Blair’s doctor has to cut into her neck or her throat and make this big hole in it?” Tootie asked.
“Tootie, whatever it is that’s going on with Blair, I doubt very seriously that it’s any form of vampirism,” Edna said with a big laugh.
“I don’t know, Mrs. G.,” Jo disagreed. “Blair’s always been some form of monster or another!”
“Jo, this is serious!” Tootie scolded her. “How can you make fun of Blair when she’s about to have surgery? Have a heart!”
“Yeah, Jo!” Natalie scolded as well. “Blair could really be sick. What if she does have some mysterious illness she didn’t tell anybody about?”
“Oh, come on, you two!” Jo said aloud. “Your imaginations are running way too wild. Blair is not sick at all. We saw her just this morning before she left and she was the picture of health. If Blair Warner’s ever going to have any type of surgery at all in her lifetime, I can promise you it’ll only be one type: plastic surgery. I’m willing to bet you guys ten bucks that Blair’s either having a nose job or a face lift.”
“A face lift?” said Natalie. “Jo, she’s just a kid like us. She’s too young to get a facelift.”
“Sure, she’s just a kid like us, but you know how seriously the Warners take aging. You remember how depressed Blair was at her last birthday party because she’d gotten another year older? I’m telling you, she and her whole family are absolutely paranoid about getting older. She probably just wanted to outdo her mother and get a head-start on all the plastic surgery she’ll be getting through her lifetime.”
“But wait a minute, Jo,” Natalie said as a disturbing thought came to her. “Don’t you remember what also happened around the time of Blair’s birthday? Your friend, our old English teacher, Miss Gallagher, left Eastland and went into the hospital…because she had terminal cancer. And I remember her last week here. She was dying, but yet she looked like she was perfectly fine. Sometimes a person can be seriously ill and it’s not always that obvious. What if Blair has to have the operation she’s having Wednesday because she’s got some kind of cancer, like Miss Gallagher?”
“Girls, Blair does not have cancer,” Mrs. Garrett assured them.
“I know Blair and I’m telling you guys, it’s some kind of plastic surgery.”
In that next instant, they all heard Blair’s footsteps as she walked into the cafeteria from the kitchen. Blair took her purse strap off her shoulder and set her purse down on one of the tables and hollered her usual cheerful, “Hello all!”
“Blair, is your doctor going to have to make a big hole in your neck because you have a rare zombie disease?” Tootie asked without even saying “Hello” back to Blair.
“Is it something awful, Blair, like cancer?” Natalie asked.
“It’s plastic surgery, right? You’re getting a nose job, aren’t you?” Jo asked.
“Okay, let me talk to somebody who’s sane,” Blair teased. “Mrs. Garrett, what in the world are they all talking about?”
Edna let out a small chuckle and replied, “I’m sorry about them, Blair. You see, your doctor called here after you left his office this afternoon and left instruction that you weren’t to have anything to eat or drink after six o’clock the night before your surgery Wednesday morning. Ever since he called, the girls have been going pretty crazy trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“So what is going on?” Natalie pressed.
“I’ve got a ten-dollar bet riding on plastic surgery,” Jo announced.
“Well I’m sorry Jo, but you’ve lost the bet. It’s not plastic surgery. And Natalie, Tootie, you can relax. I don’t have any kind of zombie disease and my doctor won’t be cutting into my neck, and no Natalie, I don’t have any type of cancer.”
Natalie and Tootie both heaved sighs of relief, and then Tootie asked, “So what is wrong with you anyway?”
“Yeah, why do you need surgery?” Natalie questioned.
“Believe it or not you guys, nothing’s wrong with me,” Blair answered.
“Now wait a minute, Blair,” Edna said. “That doesn’t make sense. Why are you getting an operation Wednesday if there’s nothing wrong with you?”
“Well you see, Geri and her parents used to live in this beautiful house that was really old, and it was painted with a lot of older paint that contained lead. Geri’s doctor has always suspected that the reason she got CP is because she got lead poisoning from living in the older house during the first couple of years of her life. He suspected it because it was discovered when Geri was two that in addition to the cerebral palsy, she had kidney damage. Geri’s parents immediately moved out of the older house and into a newer one and had the levels of lead tested in it before they moved in it with Geri. Geri’s kidneys have still been working all these years even though they were damaged, but a couple of weeks ago Geri started getting really sick and she went to see her doctor and as it turns out, now she’s in total kidney failure. She has to start doing dialysis a few times a week.”
“That’s terrible,” Tootie said sadly.
“Yeah, poor Geri,” Natalie agreed.
“But what does Geri going into kidney failure have to do with you having surgery?” Jo asked.
“I asked Geri about the possibility of getting a kidney transplant and if she’s put on the list for a kidney from an organ donor, she’d probably have to wait for years before she’d be able to get one. And, it’d be way too hard for her to keep up with all the comedy club acts and traveling she has to do and go in several times a week for dialysis. Geri’s doctor did tell her though that she had another option; that she could receive a kidney from a living donor. It doesn’t even have to be somebody related to her, but it’s better if it is a relative, and he also told her that her best chance for match within her family would either come from a brother or a sister or a cousin. And as you all know, Geri’s an only child like moi. So I had some blood drawn and as it turns out, I’m a match. I’m not a perfect match with Geri, but I’m close enough, so Wednesday, I’m giving Geri one of my kidneys. That’s all,” Blair said with a shrug.
“Blair, that’s wonderful!” Mrs. Garrett cried out.
“It sure is!” Tootie said aloud.
“Oh please, it’s not like I’m giving away anything important, like my perfect hair,” Blair said goofily, flicking her hair, “or my even more devastatingly perfect face. I can’t even see my kidneys, so why should I miss one of them?”
“Blair, you do have to admit, what you’re doing is way more serious than a hair transplant,” Jo teased, but she was also being very serious. “You’re talking about an operation. You’re talking about doctors cutting you open and taking an organ out of you.”
“According to Dr. Sid, my body shouldn’t miss it. People are born with two kidneys but they can live just fine with only one.”
“Well I think it’s great that you’re helping Geri out like this,” Natalie commented.
“Yes, well, greatness is a constant way of life for us Warners. Now come on, everybody. Let’s get started on dinner before the rest of the students come in here and do a great job of killing us when they see we haven’t made it yet,” Blair teased and she and Natalie and Tootie all walked into the kitchen. Mrs. Garrett started to follow.
“Hey, Mrs. G.?”
“Yes, Jo?”
“I think you should really sit down with Blair and talk to her about this. I think that Blair really does think that she’ll be going into that operating room and giving away something she won’t miss because she can’t see it, like she said. I don’t think she really gets it that this is an operation and that she’s facing spending time in a hospital, and that there are some risks. Things could go wrong, you know. Not just for Geri if the new kidney fails, but for Blair too.”
“Jo, I’m sure Blair’s been told about everything that’s involved by her doctor.”
“Sure, she may have been told, but that doesn’t mean she truly understands. You know Blair, Mrs. G. She’s all about Bloomingdale’s and Tiffany’s and facials and her hair and her nails and her makeup and her boyfriends. Practically everything’s a game to Blair.”
“I’m sure she’s well aware of what she’s getting herself into, Jo,” Edna insisted. She knew better than most that there was a much deeper side to Blair than what she typically let on and that when push came to shove, she could be much more kind-hearted and intelligent than Jo was giving her credit for.
“But what if she’s not? Mrs. Garrett, I really do think you should sit down and talk to her about this.”
Edna thought about it for a minute and she realized that Jo did have a point. Blair might not genuinely understand what she was getting herself into with this operation, and she did feel a responsibility to make sure that Blair did know what she was doing before she went through with it, even though she wasn’t Blair’s mother. Edna truly did love Blair, and all the girls, as if they were her very own, even though they technically weren’t, and she realized that she couldn’t let Blair face surgery without really talking to her about it first. In the beginning she was trying to stay in the background and just remain supportive and respect Blair’s decision, but that wouldn’t be the right thing to do if Blair actually did see giving Geri a kidney as giving her an old toy she didn’t care about anymore.
“Alright, Jo,” Edna agreed. “I’ll talk to her. Now, let’s get started on dinner.”
Jo smiled and nodded and walked into the kitchen with Mrs. Garrett.

[LoveMrsG]

Chapter Two
After Mrs. Garrett and the girls had had a chance to eat dinner and clean up in the cafeteria and the kitchen, Edna was about to sit down with Blair and talk to her about the operation one-on-one. But before she could, both of Blair’s parents suddenly stormed into the cafeteria.
“Oh, good,” David Warner said, although the tone of his voice certainly didn’t sound happy to see his only child. “There you are.”
“Mother,” Blair said, standing up from one of the small round cafeteria tables. “Daddy…what are you two doing here?”
Edna got up from her seat then and said, “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Warner,” and in the next moment she shook hands with them. “I’m guessing you’d prefer to be alone with Blair?”
“Yes, Mrs. Garrett,” Monica replied. “We would appreciate that.”
“Of course,” Edna answered and then she quickly and quietly left the cafeteria.
“Blair, Dr. Sid called me this evening,” Monica said as her voice shook. Blair could tell by the looks on both her parents’ faces that they were clearly very upset. “He asked me if he should talk to me or call the school about your pre-op instructions.”
“Pre-op?”
“Pre-operation instructions, Blair,” David answered her in a rather sharp voice.
“Oh,” Blair said knowingly. In that moment, she understood what her parents were talking about. They both knew now about her plans to donate one of her kidneys to Geri…and apparently, they weren’t happy about it at all.
“When exactly were you planning on telling your father and me that you were going into the hospital and giving up a kidney? After it was over?” Monica asked, obviously livid.
“Mother, Daddy, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Blair told her parents. “Geri’s in kidney failure and I’m a match, and if one of my kidneys can help her live a fuller life, why not give it to her?”
“Because your mother and I forbid you to, that’s why,” David snapped.
“You can’t stop me from doing this for Geri if I want to,” Blair insisted. “I’m eighteen and legally, I’m considered an adult now. I can do this if I want to, and I want to, so I’m doing it.”
“Blair, we are not talking about legality here,” David said. “No matter how old you get, your mother and I will always be your parents, and we forbid you to do the surgery.”
Blair had never thought once of saying to her parents what she was going to say next, but it deeply angered her the way they were acting, and deep down in her heart she also knew how much Geri needed her now, and she wasn’t about to let them just sweep through her life as they pleased and stop her from helping somebody she loved and who needed her.
“Well forgive me, but you haven’t always acted like parents. I don’t ever say this to the two of you because I’m so grateful for what little time I do get to spend with you that I don’t want to ruin it, but how do you think it makes me feel that we only spend four to six weeks out of the entire year together? How do you think it makes me feel that you’re my parents, but you seem to go out of your way to keep yourselves from really being involved in my life? How do you think it makes me feel that the school dietician sees me more often and knows more of what goes on in my life everyday than my own parents do? And now the two of you just want to waltz in here and tell me I can’t help somebody I love who really needs my help right now? I don’t think so.”
“How dare you speak to us like that, young lady?!” Monica snapped. “It is only because of your father and me that you have all the nice things you have that you love so much! It is only because of us that you’re going to one of the finest schools in the country, in the world, and receiving such a wonderful education!”
“Maybe, but no designer clothes or jewels or boarding school could ever take the place of us having time together and being able to really know each other. I’m just saying that since you obviously don’t want to spend time with me and be involved in my life like real parents, you shouldn’t have the right to just come in here and tell me I don’t have your permission to make my own medical decisions about my own body. Now I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be hurtful or disrespectful. I’m just saying that this is my choice, not yours. Whether you guys like it or not, I am an adult now and if I want to help Geri by giving her a kidney, that’s something that’s up to me, not you.”
“Excuse me young lady, but are your mother and I not supporting you?” David said angrily. “You can only call yourself an ‘adult’ when you truly act like one and pay for the roof over your head by yourself. As long as your mother and I are financing your education, and your life, we make the decisions, and we are saying no, Blair. No operation. That’s final.”
“And if I do it anyway?” Blair asked in a small voice, truly afraid of the answer.
“Then you’re on your own, financially and otherwise,” David replied harshly.
Blair gave both of her parents a hard, long stare. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. She knew they cared more about money and work and power and shopping sprees and vacations than they’d ever cared about her, but still, she’d always believed on some levels at least that she was still very important to them and that they loved her. She felt so betrayed, both by David’s harsh words and by Monica’s hard, icy stare when Blair shifted her eyes from her father’s face to her mother’s. Monica said nothing, but she was silently backing her ex-husband in it. She could see it in Monica’s face, and she didn’t know what to believe anymore. How could they want to cut her off without a cent just for wanting to help her cousin? They were supposed to be her parents, even though they didn’t always act like parents. How could they treat her like this for merely having a heart and wanting to help Geri?
Blair marched off into the kitchen, saying nothing. A couple of minutes later, her parents left.
When Blair went into the kitchen, Jo was standing there with her arms folded, staring at her.
“What?” Blair said.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on you and your folks just now,” Jo started to explain. “I came downstairs and when I came in here, I accidentally overhead everything. I just want to say, Blair, I think I really underestimated you. I guess…what I’m really saying is, I’m proud of ya for standing up to your parents like that, and for wanting to do the surgery to help your cousin. But I guess after everything they just said, everything’s changed, huh? I mean, it’s one thing to give up a kidney to help your cousin, but giving up all your money and your parents and having no way to support yourself? Nobody can expect you to make a sacrifice like that. Just how are you gonna tell Geri?”
“I’m not telling Geri anything,” Blair replied.
“Why not?” Jo asked. “Blair, you have to tell her everything has changed now.”
“I’m not telling her anything,” Blair insisted.
“Why?” Jo asked again.
“Because nothing’s changed, Jo. Nothing’s changed at all,” Blair answered, and then she walked upstairs, leaving Jo behind in the kitchen, dumbfounded.

[ZeldaGilroy]

Well this is interesting. I don't know how on earth you are going to make it less emotional and shorter that your other fics though. It is already emotional, Blair trying to be a good person and help her cousin who could very well die without a kidney transplant and the Warners threatening to cut her out of their lives if she does it. I am anxious to see Mrs. Garrett and the girls pull together to help Blair through this, but I also would love it if Monica and David came over to the good side and supported their daughter. Do you really think this is going to be a short story??? I think I know your writing well enough to say I don't think so.

[LoveMrsG]

Originally Posted by FactsFan

Well this is interesting. I don't know how on earth you are going to make it less emotional and shorter that your other fics though. It is already emotional, Blair trying to be a good person and help her cousin who could very well die without a kidney transplant and the Warners threatening to cut her out of their lives if she does it. I am anxious to see Mrs. Garrett and the girls pull together to help Blair through this, but I also would love it if Monica and David came over to the good side and supported their daughter. Do you really think this is going to be a short story??? I think I know your writing well enough to say I don't think so.

I knew all my readers would probably say that. You'll just have to wait and see what I do for yourself. And thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you're enjoying my new fic.

[LoveMrsG]

Chapter Three
Once Blair was upstairs, she knocked on Mrs. Garrett’s door.
“Come in,” Mrs. Garrett’s voice called.
Blair opened the door and walked into Mrs. Garrett’s room and said, “Hi, Mrs. Garrett. Can I talk to you for a second?”
Edna had been lying back on her bed reading a book, and when Blair had come in, she turned herself around and was now sitting on the side of her bed.
“Sure,” she replied, and then Blair came and sat down beside her. “Did you have a nice visit with your parents?”
“Not exactly. I tried to get in touch with my parents a couple of weeks ago when Geri was diagnosed with having kidney failure and tell them what I was planning on doing. But Mother was in Europe on the Grand Tour again and Daddy’s office said he was on a business trip in Geneva and they never were able to get him to come to the phone. Dr. Sid did manage to get in touch with Mother, though. He actually called her before he called the school and asked her who he should talk to about giving me my pre-op instructions the night before the surgery. That’s how she found out, and evidently she was able to get in touch with Daddy and tell him too.
“Anyway, the point is, they’re furious about me doing the surgery. And right now, I’m furious at them. I couldn’t even get in touch with them to tell them I wanted to give Geri a kidney in the first place. I…Mrs. Garrett, for once, can I just be real with you?”
“Of course,” Edna replied.
“Mother and Daddy have basically forbidden me to do the surgery, and right now I’m so angry at them I can barely see straight. I can’t help but think, ‘What right do they have to do this?’ I basically told them that it was my body and I felt it should be my decision to make, not theirs, and they said that they were parents and because they financially supported me, they had the right to tell me I couldn’t do it. But they don’t act like parents, Mrs. Garrett. You’re the school dietician, and you know more about what goes on in my everyday life than they do. When I wanted to talk to them about it, I couldn’t even get in touch with them. They both see me, maybe a combined total of eight weeks out of the entire year. It seems to me that they care more about money and themselves than they ever will me. Sure, they give me lots of money and they shower me with gifts, and sometimes I get the occasional letter or phone call, but that’s not what being parents is all about, Mrs. Garrett, and I think you know that. And as little as they involve themselves in my life all the time, when I make a decision about my own body that’s going to help somebody I love, they honestly think they have the right to just waltz in here and tell me I can’t do it. Maybe I’d be a little more respectful of their feelings if they’d be a little more respectful of mine. Would you believe they even said that if I did the surgery anyway, they’d cut me off?”
Edna thought long and hard and carefully before she responded. But finally she said, “You know Blair, I do agree with every word you just said. Money and clothes and other things are a poor substitute for your parents being actively involved in your life. I just try to be careful and bite my tongue about things like this because I’m afraid that if I really speak my mind about how I feel about parents leaving the responsibility of raising their children to boarding schools, I’ll only encourage you girls to stay angry with your parents. And I figure you have enough obstacles in your relationships with your parents as it is, considering what little time you do get to spend with your families each year.
“But you’re absolutely right, Blair. Your parents’ actions do suggest that they care more about themselves and money than they care about you. And only receiving a few letters and phone calls and spending eight weeks out of the year with your parents is not true parenting at all, so at least on some levels, they shouldn’t have the right to just come in here and tell you that you can’t give Geri a kidney when she really needs one. And they’re definitely wrong for wanting to cut you off.
“But Blair, in all my years, I’ve learned that nothing is ever like it seems. The old saying that appearances are deceiving is very true. Right now it certainly appears that your parents are being harsh and unfair and unreasonable, but there might be more to it than that. There might be another reason why your parents are reacting so violently to you having surgery. Maybe they’re actually reacting this way because the thought of you being in the hospital and having an operation is terribly frightening to them for some reason.”
“I guess,” Blair sighed. “But this whole thing is still so unfair. I don’t think they’d really cut me off financially or cut me out of the family if I did the operation. I think they’re just trying to scare me out of doing it, and I won’t let them do that. Geri needs me too much. But I’m still scared of what’s going to happen to me if they actually are serious. Mrs. Garrett, I hate to ask you to get into the middle of my family problems, but…do you think that maybe you could talk to them?”
“I’d be happy to.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Garrett. Maybe you can get somewhere with them. I sure can’t.”
“Hang in there, honey,” Edna told her as she gave Blair a sideways hug. “And try not to worry so much. Things will all work out.”
“I hope so,” Blair said quietly, and then she got up and left Mrs. Garrett’s room. After Blair left, Edna said a fervent prayer that she could get to the bottom of this entire mess with Blair’s folks.

[ZeldaGilroy]

Nice chat between Blair and Mrs. Garrett. I am glad Mrs. G mentioned that maybe Blair's parents have some other reason for insisting she not have the operation, because that is very possible. I hope when Mrs. G talks with them she will get to the bottom of things!

[LoveMrsG]

Originally Posted by FactsFan

Nice chat between Blair and Mrs. Garrett. I am glad Mrs. G mentioned that maybe Blair's parents have some other reason for insisting she not have the operation, because that is very possible. I hope when Mrs. G talks with them she will get to the bottom of things!

Thanks B. I'm glad you're staying with this fic...right now you're the only one! But just the same, I'm very glad to have you along and I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm trying to get a little bit of work done on chapter four right now as a matter of fact. I basically HAVE to get my shorter fics done really quickly and, like the old saying goes, strike while the iron's hot. If I post more slowly like TH and TFF, either I won't finish it or it'll accidentally turn into a long story. And I am DETERMINED not to let that happen here! Anyway, like I said, I'm glad you seem to be enjoying Serenity so far. Thanks for the post!

[LoveMrsG]

Chapter Four
The next morning which was Tuesday, the day before the operation, Natalie, Tootie and Jo were still fuming after they’d heard what had happened between Blair and her parents the evening before.
“Is Mrs. G. supposed to be talking to Blair’s parents today?” Jo asked as she put a big stack of breakfast dishes into the large sink in the kitchen.
“She called them first thing this morning. They’re supposed to be here by nine o’clock,” Tootie answered. As usual, she’d done a great job scooping up all the dirt on the situation.
“I still can’t believe what they said to Blair. I cannot believe they’re actually threatening to cut Blair off if she has the surgery to give Geri one of her kidneys,” Jo complained.
“I can’t believe it either,” Natalie agreed. “How could Blair’s parents treat her that way? Blair’s trying to do such a thoughtful and wonderful thing by helping Geri like this.”
“I know,” said Tootie. “Maybe I could understand them acting this way towards Blair if she were talking about doing something terrible or stupid, like…I don’t know, running off with a rock singer and eloping or something. But not giving her cousin a kidney.”
“Being thoughtful and generous towards a member of your family shouldn’t be considered by your parents to be bad behavior. Mr. and Mrs. Warner are acting as though Blair’s doing something terrible, like drinking all the time or doing drugs or failing all her classes. But then again, what can you expect from rich, spoiled idiots?”
“What rich, spoiled idiots?” Mrs. Garrett asked in the next moment after she entered the kitchen from the cafeteria.
“Blair’s parents,” Natalie responded. “We were just talking about the way they’re treating her. It just isn’t right.”
“Now girls, I know that the Warners’ reaction to Blair’s decision about the operation yesterday was pretty shocking, but try to give them the benefit of the doubt. They could be reacting this way because they’re scared of Blair having surgery. You never know.”
“Well whatever the reason is, I hope you can get to the bottom of all this today, Mrs. G. And when you do, I hope you punch their lights out for treating Blair this way,” Jo said.
“Jo!” Edna scolded with a laugh. “Listen girls, Blair’s parents should be here any second. Why don’t you go on to your classes? I’ll finish up in here a little later.”
The girls agreed and soon left. After Jo, Natalie and Tootie went on to class, Blair descended the stairs, and at that precise moment Geri walked in through the back kitchen door.
“Hi, Geri,” Blair said warmly and then gave her a big hug.
“Hi, Blair,” Geri replied. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”
“Well gee…my parents are supposed to be here to talk with Mrs. Garrett any second. Maybe we could take a walk, if that’s alright with you, Mrs. Garrett.”
“Sure it is,” Edna agreed. “You two go on and have a nice visit together.”
“Thank you,” Blair replied.
“Thanks, Mrs. Garrett,” Geri said.
“Don’t mention it,” Edna told her and then the two girls walked outside.
Once outside, Blair and Geri started taking a long, slow walk through the outside of the Eastland campus. The spring scenery was amazingly beautiful, but it was more like winter inside their hearts because of all they had on their minds.
“So, are you ready for the big day tomorrow?” Blair asked.
“Blair, there isn’t going to be a big day. I’m not letting you go through with the operation.”
“What?” Blair gasped, stunned. “Why on earth would you say a thing like that?”
“Because it’s true. Blair, my mom had a long talk with your mom last night over the phone.”
“Oh, no,” Blair sighed and then closed her eyes.
“Blair, why didn’t you tell me what had happened between you and your parents?”
“Because it doesn’t change anything, Geri. I’m still going through with the surgery tomorrow. Don’t worry about them. They’re just trying to intimidate me out of doing it, that’s all. They’d never really cut me off.”
“Blair, according to my mother, your mother really sounded serious about this. She’s very worried about you having surgery and she doesn’t understand why you should have an operation if it isn’t medically necessary for you. And, I can’t say that I blame her. There are risks to having surgery like this.”
“Minimal risks, Geri. Dr. Sid told me himself that the chances of anything going wrong are very slim, and besides, there are risks to any type of surgery. There are even risks to plastic surgery, I’m sure, and you know when I hit the big four-o, there’ll definitely be a face lift or two in my future,” Blair joked.
“Well speaking of risks, there is the risk that your parents are actually serious about cutting their ties with you if you go through with this. Blair, I could never ask you to make a sacrifice like that on top of giving me one of your kidneys. I’m calling my doctor today and I’m canceling the surgery.”
Blair immediately grabbed Geri’s arm and said, “No, you’re not.”
“Blair, do you remember the Serenity Prayer?”
“I think so.”
“It says, ‘Dear God, please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ Blair, you’ve proven that you have courage to try and change a situation. Now is probably the time to ask God for serenity, because what’s happening to me is not something you have the power to change anymore.”
“I think I can change it, Geri,” Blair disagreed. “As a matter of fact, I know I can if you’ll just let me.”
“Blair, I can’t let you do this. But as long as I live, I’ll never forget that you were willing to.”
In that moment, Blair absolutely hated both of her parents.

[ZeldaGilroy]

Aww...Geri is being so selfless now, trying to make everything okay for Blair. The obviously love each other very much. I hope this whole thing can be worked out.

[Nighthawk76]

Another really moving story. I love the title, serenity is one of my favorite words. And, of course, I love to see Blair getting some much deserved storytime.

[LoveMrsG]

Originally Posted by Shine

Another really moving story. I love the title, serenity is one of my favorite words. And, of course, I love to see Blair getting some much deserved storytime.

Thanks a lot Mike! I appreciate you reading.

[LoveMrsG]

Chapter Five
“Hello again, Mr. and Mrs. Warner,” Edna said cordially at two minutes after nine that morning, after Blair’s parents walked into the cafeteria. They both politely shook hands with Mrs. Garrett.
“Hello, Mrs. Garrett,” David replied.
“Hello,” Monica said. “I’m guessing you asked us here today to talk about this ridiculous notion of Blair’s of giving up a kidney.”
“Well as a matter of fact, yes. That is why I asked you both to come here today, but I wouldn’t necessarily call what Blair’s wanting to do for her cousin ‘ridiculous.’”
“Well I certainly would,” Monica said in an unkind tone of voice.
“That’s why I asked you to come here today, so we can discuss this. Mr. and Mrs. Warner, let’s have a seat, shall we?”
Saying nothing, the Warners sat down together at one of the cafeteria tables. Mrs. Garrett sat down at the same table across from them.
“Mrs. Warner, would you mind if I asked why you think the idea of Blair giving a kidney to her cousin is ridiculous?”
“Because she is eighteen years-old and she’s perfectly healthy, and there is no reason in the world for her to subject herself to any surgery if it isn’t medically necessary for her.”
“It might not be necessary for Blair physically, but I think on some levels, emotionally speaking, it is necessary for her to be able to help her cousin. You both know that Blair and Geri are very close.”
“We understand that Blair loves her cousin,” David said. “And we admire that she’s being so generous and wants to help her. But putting yourself in the hospital and having some doctor cut into her and take an organ out of your body, that’s taking love and generosity too far.”
“Would you still say the same thing, Mr. Warner, if it were Blair in this situation and not Geri? If Blair needed a kidney now and you knew having a doctor cutting you open and taking out one of your kidneys and giving it to Blair would help her, would you still say that’s taking love and generosity too far?”
“Of course I wouldn’t, but that’s different. I’m much older than Blair is, and I’m her father. Blair is not Geri’s parent, and she’s too young to make a sacrifice like this.”
“I don’t think that Blair sees this as making any kind of sacrifice,” Mrs. Garrett gently disagreed.
“No, she probably doesn’t,” Monica said. “But Mrs. Garrett, we are talking about a perfectly healthy eighteen-year-old girl going into the hospital and being cut open and losing a kidney. And operations are always risky. And on top of facing all the risks of surgery, what if something should happen in Blair’s lifetime that causes her one remaining kidney to shut down, and she’ll need the other one that she gave to Geri? What is our little girl supposed to do then?”
“I know that Monica and I probably came off sounding harsh and unfair yesterday,” David said. “But we have to do what we feel is best for our daughter, even if it does mean that we have to scare her out of doing this crazy operation.”
“Mr. Warner…Mrs. Warner…actually, your scare tactics yesterday didn’t work at all,” Mrs. Garrett told them.
“What?!” Monica gasped.
“Blair still plans to go through with the operation, even without your financial or emotional support,” Edna explained, and in that moment, both the Warners looked as though they’d been kicked in their stomachs.
“Dear God,” David gasped.
“What in the hell are we supposed to do now?” Monica asked in a shaky voice.
“Mr. and Mrs. Warner, I assure you that Blair will be perfectly safe doing the operation,” Mrs. Garrett tried to reassure them. “I ought to know. I’m a registered nurse. True, there are some risks, just like there are risks with any other type of operation, but they’re practically nonexistent, especially in someone as young and healthy as Blair is. If Blair goes through with the surgery, there’ll be nothing to worry about. And in a few weeks, Blair should fully recover and when she does, she’ll be as good as new.”
“If Blair goes through with the surgery, Mrs. Garrett, her mother and I will have a whole hell of a lot to worry about!” David snapped.
“Again, if you don’t mind my asking, why do you feel that way, Mr. Warner?”
There was a long silence, and then finally David replied, “We had these next-door neighbors when we were first married, Jake and Donna Sullivan. It hardly took any time at all before we became best friends. They were just like a brother and a sister to us. We loved them to death and they loved us, and they loved Blair so much when she was born.”
“Not too long after we had Blair, they got pregnant with their first baby,” Monica told Mrs. Garrett. “Everything with the pregnancy went perfectly. Donna and the baby were completely healthy when Jake drove Donna to the hospital when she was going into labor. But after Donna was in active labor for so many hours, the doctors realized that the baby was just too big for her to deliver it naturally, so they took her into the operating room to perform a Caesarian. And that’s when all hell broke loose.
“During the Caesarian, Donna’s uterus contracted, and clamped down on the baby, a little girl. The doctors tried very hard to pull the baby out but they couldn’t, and when her uterus finally relaxed again, their baby had been suffocated by it and she was stillborn. To make matters even worse, a couple of days after the surgery, Donna developed a severe staph infection which had been caused by the operation and the incision.”
“It was awful, the way that poor couple suffered,” David said with a softness and compassion that was usually quite unlike him. “Especially Donna those days after the Caesarian.”
“I’ll never forget all that that poor woman went through,” Monica said through her tears. “The staph infection caused her to develop blood poisoning. I think the medical term for it is sepsis.”
“It is,” Mrs. Garrett confirmed.
“And not too long after that, it spread to her heart and infected her heart valves, something called endo-”
“Endocarditis,” Edna supplied.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Monica agreed. “And anyway, hardly any time at all passed after she was diagnosed with endocarditis that she was dead.”
“And poor Jake had to go home to an empty house,” David said sadly. “He went to the hospital with a wife and baby on the way, an entire family. When he came back, the whole family he was building was gone. The day Donna died, Jake went to his house and shot and killed himself.”
“Now you think about it, Mrs. Garrett. One ‘routine’ surgery. Just one operation that doctors all over this country are supposed to perform every day, and all because of that one ‘routine’ operation, an entire family was wiped out,” Monica said. “A wife, a husband, and a baby daughter.”
“And you expect us to take a chance like that with Blair?” said David.
“Have either of you ever talked to Blair about any of this? Have you told her about Jake and Donna and the baby?”
“No,” Monica replied. “We never told her about Jake and Donna. Blair was just a baby, she was only a little over a year old, when all of this happened, so she doesn’t remember Jake and Donna at all. And we never really talked about it with her.”
“Maybe that’s where the two of you went wrong yesterday,” Edna suggested. “By both of you throwing it down in her face like some edict that she couldn’t do the surgery to help Geri or else you’d cut her off, that probably only made her angrier at you and more determined to go through with it. If Blair had understood what you’d been through with your friends and the fact that you didn’t want her to have the surgery because of how the thought of surgery scares you, you probably would have gotten a much different reaction from her than you did.”
Monica sighed and then said, “You know, Mrs. Garrett? Blair told us that even though we were her parents, we didn’t act like parents, that it made her feel terrible that we only spend a few weeks out of the year with her and that you, the school dietician, know more about her personal life than we do. The more I’ve been thinking about what she said, the more I realize how right she is.”
“I guess I have to agree,” David soberly admitted. “Blair does have a very real point. We’ve never been very involved in her life, although we never meant for that to happen. Maybe we don’t have the right to just march in here and tell her she doesn’t have the right to make her own medical decisions. But dear God, what if this medical decision of hers kills her?” he gasped, on the verge of tears himself.
“Mr. and Mrs. Warner, I understand how tragic it was what happened with your friends and their baby, but I speak from my own personal experience when I say that I can promise you both, instances like that are extremely rare. It is so unlikely that anything like that will happen with Blair.”
“And if it does?” Monica asked through her silent tears. “If our only child, our baby, ends up in the ICU dying of blood poisoning or endocarditis?”
“Or if she needs her one remaining kidney later on in her life?” David questioned.
“If you want to play the ‘what if’ game, what if Blair goes through with the operation tomorrow and it’s a success and both Blair and Geri are just fine? And what if the operation goes smoothly and Blair helps Geri like she wants to and she’s filled with hurt and resentment because the two of you had the opportunity to support her and help her through it and you didn’t take that opportunity? What if this convinces Blair that you really do care more about your own interests than you care about her, and that puts a chasm between you and your daughter for the rest of your lives that you’re never able to cross? Right now, it’s not too late for you to open up to Blair and tell her what’s going on, and start spending more time with her and putting your relationship back together. Right now, it’s not too late for you to start acting more like ‘real parents’ and to start getting more involved in Blair’s life and for you to start getting to know your daughter. If Blair has to go through this surgery alone tomorrow, it might be too late for you to do those things after that.”
“And if Blair becomes deathly ill due to a staph infection that the surgery caused?” David asked.
“If such an unlikely thing should happen, Mr. and Mrs. Warner, then I would think that Blair would need you and all the love and support she could get from you, more than she ever needed it before.”
Monica and David then sat together quietly and thought long and hard about Edna’s words.

[LoveMrsG]

Originally Posted by FactsFan

Aww...Geri is being so selfless now, trying to make everything okay for Blair. The obviously love each other very much. I hope this whole thing can be worked out.

Thanks a lot, B. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to reply to Mike and overlook you, LOL It was an accident. I thought I'd already replied but then I saw in the thread that I didn't. But then again, you of all people should know how mentally unstable I've been here lately.

[ZeldaGilroy]

^Don't worry...I didn't feel overlooked.

As for this last chapter...fabulous! I knew that the Warners had a legitimate reason for feeling the way they did. That story about their friends was so sad. No wonder they are afraid for their daughter to have an operation. But Mrs. G did her usually wonderful job of making things clear for them and forcing them to think long and hard about the situation. I know they will still be worried (any parent would be) but I hope they will decide to support Blair in this decision. Great work as always!

[Nighthawk76]

Great job!