Ribbon of hopes and fears

Chapter 2: Options

It was several hours later since Mark had done the surgery. He had finished for the day and was about to head out when he passed by a certain patient's room. He peeked through the glass window to see a little girl lying on the bed, eating a big bowl of ice cream. He smiled and decided to say a quick hello before he left.

"Hey Rechel." he greeted entering the room. "I see you enjoy a bowl of ice cream."

Rachel didn't answer as she swallowed a big spoonful. Patrica smiled "She's had several, what's this your third?"

Rachel nodded, her face covered in a mixture of chocolate and strawberry."Yummy!"

Both of them laughed as Mark made his way over to Partica. "How's she been?" he asked as they both calmed down.

"She's doing good. Confused when she first woke up, but when the ice cream came, she's had a smile on ever since." she smiled looking at Rachel

"Well, it's good to see her smiling. A child needs that during these times." he sighed as he asked a question that was on his mind. "Will she ever get a home?" he whispered, hoping Rachel wouldn't hear.

Patrica sighed "It will take time, the older she gets the harder it is. And with her condition, not many are willing to take in an ill child." she looked at Rachel with sad eyes. Mark frowned at this news, he knew about adoption, and how hard it was for kids to get homes. He and his brothers looked into it at one point but found it was too challenging for them at the time.

"If it helps, the kind she has it's likely Shill survive." he gave way a small smile "though she still has several appointments even when she's in remission." he sighed. Both of them looked at Rachel helplessly. "She will need to stay the night for observation. If all goes well, she'll be cleared in the morning." he said after a moment of silence.

"Thank you, doctor." Rechel smiled as she looked up at him. Mark then waved bye and walked out the door. He then made his way to the parking garage across the street and found his car. Next to it was his younger brother Julian.

"Hey, brother." Julian greeted enthusiastically.

"Hey," he said quietly as he unlocked the car and they both hopped in. He clicked on the radio, put the car in reverse, and they began making their way back home. As he drove, Mark couldn't get his mind off of Rachel. He felt bad for the little one. And with her condition, it was unlikely she would find a permanent home. unless-

Mark reached over and pressed the pause button, quickly glancing at his brother. "What did you think of Rachel?"

Julian looked up from his phone. "The little one afraid of us, wasn't she just adorable?" he said with a smile.

"I agree, she is an angel in disguise." Mark sighed, tapping his hand on the steering wheel. He then asked the one question on his mind. "what if we took her in?"

"What?" Julian asked in confusion.

Mark quickly glanced at his brother "Well she's an orphan"

"What?!" Julian questioned with surprise.

"You didn't know that?" Mark gave him a confused look before returning to the road.

Julian shook his head "No idea, the girl barely talked and the woman barely looked at me." He fell silent for a moment, taking the information in. He remembered the last time they wanted a child, just over five years ago, and at the time, their schedule didn't allow for it. "You sure about this, you remember the last time we wanted one?"

"I remember clear as day, but this one's different, she's different. It's more likely shill spend more time at the hospital than at home, we are all out of school now, and our jobs are steady. We can find some way to work it out."