Dr. Dana Mulligan

“Are they talking about me?” Johnny asked. “Yeah.” I went over to Johnny and hugged him as tightly as he squeezed my hand in the doctor’s office.

*** My cellphone startled me when I was intently typing notes about my client. I picked it up. “Hello?” “Hello, Marissa. This is Dr. Geil’s office. Dr. Geil was wondering if you could come in at 3 PM for an appointment.” I looked down at my rose gold watch. “It’s 2:30. I have another session with a client in 15 minutes. Can we do it tomorrow?” “Dr. Geil is very adamant about this appointment. Is there any way that you could reschedule that session?” “Uh, yeah, I’ll try. See you soon.” This better be important because I do not like canceling on clients. I gathered my belongings and closed up my office. *** Dr. Geil was waiting at the office’s front door for us. He hurried us into his

“Johnny, Marissa, I hope you saw my interview on channel 3. Ever since then, I have been thinking. I did some research and I want to inject everyone with Johnny’s disease. He has O- blood, which means anyone can receive it. This is a sign that we must do this.” Dr. Geil looked so excited about his idea, but then his face became glum. “There is one issue, though...we need a lot of blood. The amount that we need is all of his blood. In order to do this... Johnny will die. I will let you think about this, but please think about how this would impact the world.” Johnny absorbed all of this information. He looked down at the white tile floor for a very long time. I could tell he was trying to comprehend this. I, too, was trying to do the same thing. Johnny is my son. At home, it is just him and I. I don’t want to lose him. I know I sound selfish, but I love him. He is all I have. I hugged Johnny so close to my chest. His striking green eyes looked up at

“Mom, don’t be sad. I know what I am going to do.” He released his grip. “You do?” “I am going to donate my blood.” He looked so confident in his answer. I winced and pulled him close to me again. “Okay, we will perform the procedure tomorrow.” Dr. Geil told us. I wailed. I couldn’t hold in the tears anymore. I knew he was going to say “yes”, but I hoped I was wrong. This doesn’t feel real. How could Johnny stay so calm?

*** I need to make his last 24 hours amazing. I canceled all of my appointments for the rest of today and tomorrow. Thankfully, my clients were understanding. We first went to an ice cream shop, then we played with dogs at a park. Johnny and I ran through the streets. I tried my best to keep a brave face on. Johnny is definitely stronger than me. We tried to ride skateboards, took silly selfies, and rode the ferris wheel at the carnival. I love my Johnny. I reminded him every minute.

“Untitled” Unknown/Camera “Thank you for coming in, Marissa.” Lisa Matthews said in a comforting way. “You’re welcome.” I gulped. I glanced behind me and watched the slideshow with pictures of Johnny behind me. In my head, I pointed out each picture, “There’s the day he was born. There’s him walking for the first time. Oh, I loved his adorable, chunky thighs. There’s Johnny riding a bike and there’s him falling off the bike. He never was good at cycling...There’s him sticking his tongue out and giving me bunny ears yesterday.” That broke me. A tear fell from my eyes, then multiple followed behind. At one moment, he was here and, the next, he is gone. It’s crazy how fast you can lose someone you love. “If Johnny were here, what would he say?” Lisa

Matthews asked. I had to take a moment to gather myself. “My Johnny is a beautiful boy. He always wanted people to be happy. I didn’t know about his condition until a week ago. I always thought he was accepting. It is sad that you need a disease to not discriminate. He made people feel loved. He would never hurt a fly. He was loved... so loved. If he was here, he would want you to get your injection.”