Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Mrs. Farraday’s hand flew to her mouth, and her knees gave out. Mr. Farraday shook his head, “No” slipping from his lips as he followed his wife to the floor. My body shook at what I was seeing, at what was sinking into my head.
“Easton…” I whispered, dread cutting deep. “No.” My head shook, and my stomach felt like it had been hit with a lead pole. Mr. and Mrs. Farraday were ushered to a private room. Mrs. Farraday looked at me as they passed by, excruciating grief in her eyes.
As if by a magnet, my eyes were pulled to the door of Bonnie’s room. She was alone. She needed me. I wiped my face and walked numbly to her door. She looked so small on the bed. Tears that I couldn’t help but shed spilled over my eyes and crashed to the floor. I moved to Bonnie’s bed and took hold of her hand. She stirred, her brown eyes opening and flickering to mine. “Cromwell,” she said, no voice to her words. “You’re here.”
“Yeah, baby.” I pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth. Her weak hand lifted to my cheek. She must have felt the wetness.
“Don’t…cry…” I leaned into her hand and kissed her palm. “Stay with me…”
“Always,” I replied and sat beside her on the bed. I pulled her close to me and held her in my arms. It wasn’t long before Mr. and Mrs. Farraday walked through the door. They were walking ghosts. I swallowed, and I couldn’t fight back the tears. Because in that second I knew.
He hadn’t made it.
A doctor followed behind. Bonnie opened her eyes as the doctor addressed her. “Bonnie, we have a heart.” Bonnie trembled in my arms as the doctor told her what was going to happen. But none of it registered as the truth hit me like a boulder.
Easton…it was Easton’s heart.
With one glance up at her parents, I saw the truth staring back at me. After that was a rush of activity. A team of doctors came in and started prepping Bonnie. When I could, I held her hand. Her eyes were swirling seas of confusion and fear. Her mum and dad moved to her and gripped her other hand.
“Easton?” I heard her ask, and my heart splintered apart into millions of pieces.
“He’s on his way,” her dad said, the lie so needed right now. We all knew Bonnie had to fight. She couldn’t know the truth.
“Need…him…” Bonnie whispered.
“He’ll be with you soon,” her mum told her, and I closed my eyes. Because he would be with her soon. More than she knew.
“Cromwell.” I opened my eyes. Mrs. Farraday was looking at me, her eyes haunted and broken. She moved aside to clear the path to Bonnie.
Bonnie held her hand out. I moved across the room and took it. Her fingers were so cold. Bonnie smiled at me, and it destroyed my soul. “A heart…” Her smile stretched as wide as it could, her purple lips showing the well of hope that was springing inside her.
“I know, baby,” I said, forcing my smile.
“I’ll survive,” she said, more determination in her slight whisper than any shout could boast. “For us…” I closed my eyes and dropped my head to her chest. I heard the labored beat of her heart and remembered the recording of Easton’s. It would soon beat in her chest. I raised my head and stared into her brown eyes. And I knew that that new heart would destroy her when she learned the truth.
The doctors came in. I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her lips one last time. “I love you, baby,” I whispered as she was wheeled away.
“I love you too” came her faint reply. Bonnie’s parents walked with her as far as they could go. When Bonnie had disappeared though the double doors, I watched, emotions ripping me in two as Bonnie’s parents fell apart for the son they’d just lost.
The son whose heart might just save their daughter’s life.
I dropped to the floor, the cold of the wall supporting my back. And I waited. I waited, with hope in my heart, for Bonnie to pull through. Then dread followed, because I wasn’t sure how she would ever get over this.
One twin died so one would survive.
My best friend, gone.
The girl who held my heart, fighting for her life.
And me, helpless to do anything to fix it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cromwell
I stood, staring at her through the glass window. She had a ventilator in again and chest drains that took the fluid from her body. But I had hope again in my heart.
Because she’d survived the operation. And so far, the doctor told us, it was a success. But as I stared at her face, her closed eyes that today the doctor told us should open, I knew it wasn’t that easy. Because today she had to wake up and be told that the heart that had so seamlessly melded to her body was that of her best friend, her twin…Easton.