I said I would.
I went to the supply closet and cried for five minutes. Then I went back and cleaned Mrs. Henley’s teeth.
By the end of the month, the fundraiser had raised fifty-two thousand dollars.
There was one more wall.
The trial needed a referral from Harper’s own oncologist at Bramble Creek Regional. Dr. Ostrowski. And Dr. Ostrowski didn’t want to give it.
Graham asked me to come to the appointment. I still don’t fully know why. I think he wanted somebody in the room who wasn’t afraid of her.
Dr. Ostrowski was sixty, brisk, and very tired. She sat behind her desk with Harper’s file open and her reading glasses on the end of her nose.
“I want to be honest with you,” she said. “This trial is very new. Phase one. Some of these kids end up in intensive care. Some of them get neurological side effects. Some of them don’t respond at all. I’d prefer to try one more round of conventional chemotherapy first.”
