Chapter 9 - The Trial of the Castle
The Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago was a towering fortress of modern medicine, a place where the air was thick with the quiet, clinical determination of research scientists fighting a war against cellular mutations.
For the next two months, Troy’s life became a blurred cycle of white hospital walls, the hum of the cell-separator machines, and the agonizing, silent hours of waiting room isolation. Ava’s treatment was brutal—the monoclonal antibodies caused severe nerve pain as they targeted the neuroblastoma cells, forcing her into days of high-fever lethargy where she could barely lift her head.
Through it all, Troy never took off the costumes.
For outfit ninety-two, he was a giant blue Smurf. For ninety-five, he was a shimmering gold mermaid with a fabric tail that he had to awkwardly drag across the oncology ward floor. The nurses started a betting pool on what the giant biker would wear next, and the children in the surrounding rooms began leaving their doors open, waiting for the "Mountain Fairy" to pass by with his booming, gentle laughter.
"She’s responding perfectly, Troy," Dr. Vance said on a freezing afternoon in mid-December, checking the latest molecular scan results. "The antibodies have successfully identified the neuroblastoma cells. The tumor mass in her abdomen is entirely gone. The bone marrow biopsies are completely clear."
Troy sat in the vinyl chair, his face hidden behind a giant plush Scooby-Doo mask, his body shaking as the words washed over him. "Clear, Doc? Like... gone?"
"She’s in complete remission, Troy," Dr. Vance said, her eyes filling with tears as she smiled behind her surgical mask. "The princess won."
Troy pulled off the cartoon mask, his face covered in sweat and tears, and walked over to the sterile bed where Ava was sitting up, eating a bowl of chocolate pudding. Her hair had just begun to grow back, a soft, fine fuzz of blonde curls that looked like silk under the hospital lights.
May you like
"We did it, Ava," Troy whispered, lifting her tiny, fragile body into his massive arms, burying his face in her soft neck. "We did it, baby."
Ava hugged his shaggy hair, her small fingers touching the velvet dog ears of his costume. "I told you, Daddy. The outfits always work."
