My Sister's Keeper

At the Fitzgerald home, Brian and Julia find Anna making herself a bowl of cereal in the kitchen. Brian greets Anna, and they briefly talk about his night, including Anna asking if the arsonist struck again. Sara calls and briefly speaks to Anna. When Julia asks Anna if anyone has spoken to Kate about the petition for medical emancipation, Anna becomes upset and spills her cereal. After Brian has showered and changed, he takes Julia and Anna to the hospital to see Kate. Sara asks Julia not to tell Kate that Anna hasn’t dropped her petition. She then defends herself by saying she loves both Kate and Anna and wants what’s best for both of them. Julia speaks to Kate about her illness and history of procedures. Kate mentions Jesse and tells Julia that Jesse is often in trouble because he is overshadowed by her illness. She also describes her relationship with Anna as a typical sisterly relationship.

The novel cuts to the past. On Kate’s eighth birthday, Sara notices a bruise on the back of her leg. Kate has been in remission for five years, but Sara’s thoughts immediately go to relapse. Not long after, a routine bone marrow aspiration reveals that Kate is experiencing molecular relapse. While struggling with this news, Sara brushes off a promise to Jesse, who reacts by attempting to remove his braces himself so his mother will not have to deal with his orthodontic needs any longer.

Dr. Harrison Chance puts Kate on a drug called ALL-TRANS Retinoic Acid (ATRA). The drug works for a short time, but Kate develops resistance to it. Dr. Chance then suggests a donor lymphocyte infusion. Brian balks at the idea of using Anna as a donor, but Sara convinces him that they have to try. They bring Anna to the hospital for the procedure; however, not enough lymphocytes are extracted the first time, so Anna has to go back two more times.

Sara struggles with balancing Kate’s health issues with her everyday life. At one point, her sister Zanne takes her to a hotel in Boston where they drink several expensive bottles of wine. Zanne calls Sara a martyr, and Sara expresses how hard it is to be strong all the time. At home, Sara finds herself forced to save the family goldfish twice, worried that she’s used her only miracle on a fish after the second time.

Anna reflects on a time when she attempted to act as though Kate were already dead in order to adjust to the idea that she might one day die. Sometime later, Anna stole some of Kate’s makeup to go on a date with a male classmate, and the two wrestled until Kate made the comment that Anna was “killing me” (181). This comment sobered them both.

Anna sits in the hospital cafeteria with her parents, where her mother once again attempts to convince her to drop the petition; Anna refuses. As they argue, the sheriff, Vern Stackhouse, comes over with paperwork from the court informing Sara that Campbell has filed a restraining order against her; the order will require Sara to move out of the family home. Sara and Brian fight all the way to the courthouse. There is press outside wanting to know more about Anna’s petition. Anna and Brian wait in the hallway, while Sara and Campbell speak to Judge DeSalvo. Julia arrives and Anna, upset over her parents’ fighting, tells her that she’s changed her mind about the petition. When Julia leaves, Brian suggests that Anna needs some space to figure things out. He offers to allow her to move into the firehouse with him.

Campbell wades through the press to meet with Judge DeSalvo and Sara. Judge DeSalvo is outraged to hear that Sara has spoken to Anna about the case despite his order against it. Julia joins the meeting and tells Judge DeSalvo that she doesn’t believe Sara should be removed from her home. Judge DeSalvo tells Sara that she can remain in her home, but if she speaks to Anna again about the case, he will personally have her removed. Campbell rushes out of the room, demanding to see Anna, but Anna is gone. Julia rushes after Campbell, arguing with him over the position he has placed Anna in; she questions his motives. Campbell’s dog Judge is alerting, but Campbell continues to argue with Julia as he searches for a private place to go. Finally, he finds a small conference room and tells Julia that he has a meeting inside.

Julia visits Jesse at his home, where he attempts to flirt with her. When Julia asks Jesse what it was like growing up in the Fitzgerald family, he tells her a story about a time when Kate had an infection, and she was hospitalized along with Anna who was donating granulocytes. Left with the neighbors, Jesse snuck out and chopped down a tree in his front yard on Christmas Eve, decorating it alone. The next morning, he opened presents his parents clearly bought last minute from the hospital gift shop. He says he’s always forgotten, but Anna isn’t because of her ability to donate to Kate. At the same time, Jesse says no one truly has a choice in these decisions.

Anna settles in at the firehouse, but Sara is annoyed with Brian for allowing her to move out of the house. During the night, the firehouse gets an ambulance call; Anna goes along for the ride. The call is for an elderly woman who fell and cut her head. Anna is hopeful about the woman’s survival and Brian is saddened that she only sees that the woman can be helped, not how difficult her situation truly is. When it’s time to leave the hospital, Brian finds Anna asleep in her mother’s arms.