CHAPTER SEVEN

TONY’S OFFICE, GENERAL HOSPITAL:

Stefan(and Alexis enter)I told Alexis what’s going on and she insisted on coming with me.

Alexis: If it’s as you suspect and Stefan needs a kidney transplant, I want to be the donor.

Stefan: So, have my test results come back.

Tony: Yes, I spent sometime evaluating the results and I’m afraid things don’t look good. Your left kidney which is the one that’s been causing you the pain you’ve been experiencing in your lower back is going into renal failure. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem since a person really only needs one good kidney for his body to function normally. But your other kidney isn’t in much better shape. There’s no telling how long it’ll continue to function before it begins to go into renal failure, as well.

Stefan: So, it was like I suspected. I’m going to need a kidney transplant.

Tony: That would probably be your best long-range option.

Alexis; Dr. Jones, I’m more than willing to be the donor. When would we do the operation.

Tony: Hold on, Alexis, it’s not as simple as that. First, tests must be run to see if you’re a compatible donor. Since you and Stefan are siblings the odds are good that you will be. But even then, Stefan’s body could reject your kidney and he’d be in worse shape than he is right now.

Stefan; What do you mean, Dr. Jones.

Tony: You may not want to go with the transplant option at this moment in time. As of now, your other kidney is still functioning on its own. You can still lead a relatively normal life with only a few restrictions which I’ll inform you of. When it starts to fail you’ll have to have weekly sessions of being hooked up to a dialysis machine that will help your kidney do its work for it. As time progresses and your kidney worsens, the treatments with the dialysis machine will increase until your kidney goes into total renal failure and you have to be hooked up to a dialysis machine 24/7 until a kidney transplant can be done. If you were to go ahead with the kidney transplant today and your body was to reject the transplant, you would have to be on dialysis 24/7 to keep you alive until another kidney transplant could be arranged.

Stefan: And which my body might reject, again.

Tony: Exactly. So it might be best to wait until a transplant is absolutely necessary. Until that time comes you could take this time to make sure you have a donor all lined up for when you absolutely need it.

SONNY’S BEDROOM, THE PENTHOUSE:

Sonny(is laying in bed watching as Carly comes out of his bathroom)You’ve been in there a long time.

Carly: I was stalling for time until I found the nerve to come out.

Sonny: If it’ll make you any less nervous to know I’m not nude under these covers.(he pulls them back) See, I’m wearing my pajama bottoms. If it’ll make your more comfortable I could even put on my pajama top.

Carly: No, I like the feel of your skin against mine. (she removed her robe and climbed in bed next to him)I swear, you are the only man who has ever made me act nervous like this. First when we made love and now this.(she pulled the bed covers up to her chin)

Sonny: Any ideas why?

Carly: I’ve never done this before. You know, going to bed with a man and knowing all we were going to do is sleep together and nothing more.

Sonny: We’ve had wild, hot sex in this bed and we’ve made tender love, but the one thing we haven’t done in this bed is just sleep together.

Carly: I don’t know why, but for some reason us sleeping together in the same bed seems even more intimate to me than us making love. I mean, after we did it, you either had to leave or I went back to my own room. We’ve never spent the whole night together in the same bed before. We’ve never woke-up in the morning in the same bed before.

Sonny: I think in a way it is more of an intimate act than the two of us taking all our clothes off, joining are bodies together and giving each other pleasure. Even though removing all your clothes and sharing your body with another human being puts you in a vulnerable position, you’re also still in control of the situation. When you’re asleep it’s the one time you’re totally vulnerable and have no real control over yourself. To fall asleep in the same bed with another human being, you have to feel comfortable enough with them to trust them enough to let yourself relax and fall asleep and to be totally vulnerable and at their mercy and to not fear that the minute your asleep their going to plunge a knife in your back.

Carly: You’re not making me feel more comfortable and more at ease about this.

Sonny: This isn’t easy for me, either. The last woman I slept with in this bed waited until she thought I was asleep then went through my pockets trying to find some information she could use to put me in prison.

Carly: So how should we go about this?

Sonny: You might start with letting go of the death-grip you have on the covers or holding them up to your chin like I don’t know what you look like without your clothes on.

Carly(shoved the blankets down to her waist) Fine. Now what?

Sonny: You might try turning over with your back towards me.

Carly: Why?

Sonny: Trust me.

Carly: Oh, you’re a fine one to utter those words.

Sonny: Just do it. (reluctantly, she did so, and he put his arms around her and fitted his body against her back) This is called sleeping spoon-style.

Carly(settled herself more comfortably against him)I like it.

Sonny: You know, I’ve been thinking. Remember when you wanted to work with me at the coffee warehouse.

Carly: (looked over her shoulder at him)Yes, and you shot me down.

Sonny: Well, I’ve changed my mind.

Carly: Why?

Sonny: If you stay around this place all day staring at the four walls it’s going to drive you crazy. I’ve done that more times than I care to remember and I know what I’m talking about. You need something to keep you distracted and learning the coffee business will do just that.

Carly: You mean that?

Sonny: I mean it. Tomorrow morning you can come with me to the coffee warehouse and I’ll start teaching you.

Carly: Do you think we’re going to survive this.

Sonny: We will somehow. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. We’re going to have a long day ahead of us in the morning.