My Sister's Keeper

Campbell calls Dr. Peter Bergen to the stand. Dr. Bergen explains that the ethics committee is made up of doctors, nurses, ethicists, and clergy who “review individual cases to protect patients’ rights” (301). Campbell asks at what age a child can make an informed decision about their medical treatment and Dr. Bergen says 13, but parents are still the primary decision makers. Dr. Bergen tells the court that if a child objects to a procedure, the ethics committee will meet and make a decision for the child. He admits that the committee has met in regard to Kate twice, once in regard to a trial for peripheral blood stem cell transplant, and recently in regard to a potential kidney transplant. However, they have never met in regard to Anna because her situation does not meet their requirements for intervention. Dr. Bergen insists that there are safeguards to keep human beings from being used as “experimental lab rats” (305). Campbell, however, points out that Anna has slipped through the cracks. When Sara does her cross-examination of Dr. Bergen, she underscores the fact that Anna has never suffered long-term harm and her donations have saved Kate. When Judge DeSalvo calls a recess, Anna has a moment with her mother.

The novel cuts to the past. While receiving platelets in the hospital, Kate meets 16-year-old cancer patient Taylor. She gives him her phone number and hopes he will call. A few days later, she learns she is at the beginning of a relapse. Not long after, Kate goes to the movies with Taylor. She is excited when she feels scars on his palms because she feels they are a matched set. Kate’s doctors decide to perform a peripheral blood stem cell transplant, but Kate insists that she have her pre-procedure chemotherapy outside of the hospital so she can continue to see Taylor. While receiving chemotherapy at the hospital, Taylor arrives and sits with Kate, supporting her as she gets sick. Taylor asks Kate to attend a dance organized by the hospital with him, and she accepts. When Kate initially goes shopping for a dress with her mother and Anna, she becomes frustrated because she cannot find a dress that will hide her central line. Anna cheers her up by making a scene inside a hair salon. On the night of the dance, many pictures are taken. Sara is a chaperone at the dance and at one point notices Kate and Taylor have gone missing. She finds them talking about death and witnesses Kate’s first kiss.

When Kate is admitted to the hospital for her stem cell transplant, she is upset because Taylor hasn’t called in a few days. Sara goes to the infusion center to find out where Taylor is and learns he died of an infection that day. She doesn’t tell Kate about Taylor’s death until she is released from the hospital a month later, out of fear that her grief would prolong her recovery. When Kate finds out, she is angry at her mother for keeping the truth from her. They don’t speak for a week; in this time, Sara finds Kate looking at pictures of herself, not only from the dance, but from before she was diagnosed with leukemia. They both feel sad that no one got to know Kate’s healthier, younger self.

When Jesse was 14, he went to a farm for troubled children and ended up saving a lamb when it got stuck during birth. When he found the laboring mother, he could see she was on the verge of death. As he sits with Kate, he sees the same look in her eye. Jesse and Kate have a discussion about death. When Kate goes to sleep, Jesse expresses his emotion by punching a wall.

Brian is waiting at the courthouse to testify when he receives a note from the firehouse—permission from Judge DeSalvo to leave. There has been another fire set by the serial arsonist he and his crew have been investigating. When he arrives, one of his crew members tells him that they found a cigarette that was only partially burned. He also says that the arsonist vented the fire himself. This is unusual and shows that the arsonist understands the nature of fire. It also suggests the arsonist did not want this fire to rage out of control. Brian studies the cigarette, and a thought takes form in his head.

Brian waits for Jesse in his apartment above the garage. He accuses Jesse of setting the fires, describing the method (Molotov cocktails) that likely started the fires and showing Jesse an empty bottle of bleach he found in his trash. Confronted with all this information, Jesse breaks down and says he couldn’t save Kate. He cries, and Brian suddenly realizes the burden placed on his son by Kate’s illness. Brian decides to keep Jesse being the arsonist a secret.

After the court’s recess, Campbell puts Dr. Harrison Chance on the stand. Dr. Chance admits to suggesting to Sara that a future child could be a good match for Kate in regard to bone marrow donation. He denies that any of the treatments he recommended for Kate left Anna with long-term consequences. Campbell has him read the potential complications of anesthesia, which include potential death, but the latter insists these complications are rare. The former then has Dr. Chance explain the consequences of kidney donation, stressing the fact that the donor must avoid contact sports in the future to reduce the risk of injuring the remaining kidney, and points out that Anna plays hockey.

Julia joins Campbell and Anna for lunch. Anna quickly makes an excuse to leave. Julia confronts Campbell over the fact that he left her alone that morning. He refuses to discuss it, making an excuse to walk his dog Judge instead.

Judge DeSalvo calls another recess because he has a chiropractic appointment. Campbell drives Anna to the firehouse. They talk about their parents, and Anna walks away with the idea that Campbell felt invisible to his parents just like she does.

Campbell puts Brian on the stand with the understanding that he’s going to testify against Anna donating a kidney. However, after he takes Brian through Anna’s history of donations, he asks him if he believes Anna should be forced to donate her kidney. Brian explains that he once was convinced Kate was going to die of an infection, but Sara believed the arsenic treatment would work, and it did. He says he needs to continue to trust Sara, and Sara believes the kidney transplant will save Kate. So, he changes his mind and says he wants Anna to donate the kidney. This completely disrupts Campbell’s case. As a result, Campbell tells Anna that she will have to testify, but she refuses.

When Sara begins her cross-examination of Brian, she finds herself remembering a time when the family went on vacation without a set destination and ended up in a miserable cabin in a place where it rained the whole week. It was a terrible situation, but they had a good time. As a result, Sara realizes she needs Brian as her life partner. She asks him to come home. That night, Anna and Brian move back into the house. Sara tells Anna that Anna reminds her of herself. Later that night, Sara and Brian make love.