My Oxford Year: A Novel

Chapter 19 begins with a quote from William Butler Yeats’s “When You Are Old,” 1891.

Ella goes to Jamie’s house, and he invites her in. They awkwardly apologize to each other, and Jamie explains what happened. Four years ago, Oliver was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and Jamie was tested for the genetic component of the disease, which was not present. Oliver died despite treatment, and Jamie discovered he had the same disease less than a year later. Jamie underwent chemotherapy and stem-cell replacement, which sent the cancer into remission. However, the day Jamie met Ella for the first time, he found out the cancer had returned. A week ago, Jamie pulled away from Ella because he is undergoing another round of treatment, and the effects of the treatment were beginning to show. Jamie is intimately familiar with multiple myeloma because of Oliver’s experience with it, and he has the money to receive treatments at home. Though Ella thinks Jamie chose to start the relationship because of its predetermined ending, Jamie confesses that he did not feel sick with Ella, allowing him to pretend the disease did not exist. Ella thinks there is a chance Jamie will survive, but she remembers Jamie telling her to do things in the spring that he does not see himself doing.