Luna. Chapter 66

(Lyra's POV)

I was still standing in the parking lot, staring at the empty space where Magnus's car had been, when my phone rang.

"Ms. Blackwood?" The voice was crisp, professional. "This is Dr. Martinez. You need to come back to room 314 immediately."

"What's wrong?"

"It's Asher. He's collapsed."

I ran through the hospital corridors faster than I'd ever moved in my life. Nurses and visitors blurred past as I raced toward the elevator, my heart hammering against my ribs.

When I burst into Asher's room, I found him unconscious on the bed, surrounded by medical equipment I didn't recognize. His skin looked pale and waxy, and there were dark circles under his eyes that hadn't been there an hour ago.

"What happened?" I demanded.

Dr. Martinez was checking Asher's vitals, his expression grim. "His blood pressure dropped suddenly. We're running tests, but I need to ask you some questions about his medical history."

"I've told you everything I know."

"Has he ever shown signs of anemia? Unusual fatigue, weakness, frequent infections?"

"He gets tired sometimes, but he's four years old. All kids get tired."

"What about bruising? Unusual bleeding?"

I thought about the scraped knee from last week that had taken longer to heal than normal. The nosebleed that had seemed excessive. Small things I'd attributed to childhood clumsiness.

"Maybe," I said quietly. "Why?"

"We're seeing some concerning blood work. Very low red blood cell count, abnormal white cell production." Dr. Martinez met my eyes. "I think we need to run more comprehensive tests."

"What kind of tests?"

"Blood work to check for various conditions. But based on what I'm seeing..." He paused. "I'm concerned about aplastic anemia."

"What's that?"

"It's a condition where the bone marrow doesn't produce enough blood cells. It can be serious if left untreated."

The room spun around me. "How serious?"

"Let's wait for the test results before we discuss treatment options."

"How serious?" I repeated, my voice sharper.

Dr. Martinez looked uncomfortable. "In severe cases, it can be life-threatening without proper treatment."

Life-threatening. My baby was lying unconscious with a life-threatening condition, and I was standing here having conversations about it like we were discussing the weather.

"What's the treatment?"

"It depends on the severity and the underlying cause. In some cases, medication can help. In others..." He hesitated. "We might need to discuss bone marrow transplantation."

"From who?"

"Ideally, a close genetic match. Parents, siblings, sometimes extended family."

I looked at my unconscious son, this perfect little boy who'd never done anything but love everyone around him, and felt something break inside my chest.

"How long before we know?"

"The results should be back within a few hours."

I nodded, not trusting my voice. Dr. Martinez left to order more tests, and I was alone with Asher and the sound of machines monitoring his vital signs.

I called Victor first. His phone went straight to voicemail.

I called Derek. Same thing.

I sat there staring at my contact list, realizing that most of the people I relied on were either unreachable or had just walked out of my life.

Finally, I scrolled to Kael's number. My finger hovered over the call button for a long moment before I pressed it.

"Lyra?" He answered on the first ring. "What's wrong?"

"Asher's sick," I said, and then the tears came. "They think it might be something called aplastic anemia, and they're talking about bone marrow transplants, and I don't know what to do."

"I'm on my way."

"Kael—"

"I'm already in my car. Don't argue with me about this."

"I wasn't going to argue."

"Good. Because our son needs us both right now."

Our son. The words that Magnus had objected to earlier now sounded like exactly what I needed to hear.

"Hurry," I whispered.

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

I hung up and took Asher's small hand in mine. His skin felt too warm, and his breathing was shallow.

"It's going to be okay, baby," I said, even though I had no idea if that was true. "Daddy's coming, and we're going to figure this out."

For the first time in four years, I was grateful that Kael was genetically Asher's father. Because if my son needed a bone marrow transplant, we were going to need all the genetic matches we could get.