Another round

(more pieces from my workshop)

“We could try another round of treatment, but the numbers were great the last three cycles. I think we need to step up the treatments for us to see success,” Dr. Lee said to Amy and Dave.
Disappointment, frustration, anger and hopelessness, a mix of emotions washes over the faces of the husband and wife. It has been three long years of trying, hoping, waiting and ultimately nothing to show for it. Were they ever going to be able to start a family? How could they afford another round of treatments? What about their hopes and dreams?
“Thank you Doctor for your help these last four months but I think I need to give my body a rest from the medications. We have talked this over before coming to see you and we are going to let nature take its course and see if that works again.” Amy held her husbands hand while saying this. She was confident in her words but her eyes betrayed her, there was a strong chance that they were not going to be able to conceive.
With heavy hearts, both were silent as while they made their way home taking in the surroundings. People driving here and there talking on their phones with not a care in world it seems. Teenagers pushing the speed limits while laughing at some joke and not paying as much attention as they should. The sky was grey with water filled clouds that were threatening to unleash a torrent at any moment. The concrete jungle filled with workers going about their mundane routines. Everything seemed to rush by and no one understood the crushing defeat they feel.
Once they were home, they held each other for a long time. This was a hard pill to swallow for both of them. Dreams of raising a family faded like the sun at the end of a winter day, quickly, while leaving the world around them bitter cold. It felt as if there was a ton of bricks weighing on their chest and a sharp object trying to pierce their hearts. This acute pain was present for many months.
Trying to be brave, the couple put on a smile and went on with life and endured the fact that everyone took this natural course of life for granted. No one could understand the pain of not being able to have your own family. All the hopes of taking the kids to their grandparents’ for holidays or celebrating their first birthday or their first baseball game was so real for so long but still play in their minds.
While lying in bed one warm summer night, a thought came to her. Amy cautiously approached her husband with a solution.
“Maybe we can still have a family. What about all the children who do not have parents? They have no home to go to or parents to tuck them in at night. We know that we are a strong family already and there are children out there who need our help.”
Dave took a minute to digest this information. Shock, hope and determination played across his face. How could he have been so selfish to not think about the orphans? Who cares if the baby doesn’t have their eyes, the child would be theirs to raise.
That night, they prayed to God as hard as they could that this could be the answer to their plight.