Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
I cry. I cry and cry and cry. I’m not sure I’ll ever stop crying.
My dad is going to give me a kidney.
My dad is my hero.
I’m eventually pulled away so my brother can hug me.
“I was close,” he says, his voice husky. “You know I’d give you my left nut if I needed to.” Sure, he jokes, but he’s crying too.
I look over Landon’s shoulder to see Daniel hugging Dad. Not a son-in-law simply hugging his father-in-law. No, he hugs him like he’s his hero too.
Hope teases me and I shouldn’t take the bait.
Hope is dangerous.
But without hope, what am I even living for?
Hope and I are about to become best friends because I have too many people holding onto hope too. Maybe if we all cling desperately enough, hope will turn into reality.
I need a win.
I will win.
Momma didn’t raise a quitter.
Daniel
Two months later…
“Go fish, got my wish,” Taylor chirps from beside me in the waiting room. “I win again.”
I ruffle his blond hair. “You win every time, Noodle Butt.”
“It’s because I’m better, Dum-Dum Dad.”
He always calls me Daniel or Dr. Dum-Dum. This is new. I try to play it off like it’s not a big deal, but my heart soars. And I really need my heart to soar because I’m stressed as fuck.
“You’re pretty amazing,” I agree, swallowing down my emotion.
He’s ours on paper. A son. Incredible. But I was prepared for him to call me Daniel for the rest of his life. Not Dad. I didn’t want to pressure him. But I sure as hell won’t try and stop him.
“Mom’s going to be okay,” he tells me in a matter-of-fact tone.
My heart burns inside my chest and I fight tears, nodding at him.
“He’s right,” my mom says as she sits down on my other side. “Our girl’s a fighter.”
That she is.
I lift my gaze and catch Landon’s from across the room. He’s pale with dark circles under his eyes. Callie and her dad, August, are sitting beside him in support. The two people Landon loves most are in that operating room. I want to pull him into my arms and thank him for letting his dad go in there with her, but I don’t want to embarrass him. Plus, he has his support network and I have a little boy who needs me to be strong.
Time passes too slowly, but thankfully I have Gold Fish on the iPad to entertain me. Taylor whips my ass every round, much to his delight. Just when I’m about to climb the walls with anxiety, Dr. Davis, the surgeon, strides down the hall. I toss the iPad in Mom’s lap and jog over to him. Landon is hot on my heels.
“Surgery went well,” he assures me, smiling. “Of course only time will tell if it’ll be rejected or not, but there’s no reason why the transplant won’t take. And while we were in there, we performed a nephrectomy on the damaged kidney since it was causing so much trouble. As you know, it’s common to leave the diseased organs in there, but it was extremely large and overrun by cysts, so in order to make room, it needed to be removed.”
By removing the problem kidney, this could mean she’ll be pain free one day.
“How is Teddy?”
“He’s been in SICU for a while now. Lauren just came out. In another hour or two…” he trails off, smirking. “In another hour or two the family can come in to see them one at a time. But doctors, on the other hand, they have free rein as far as I’m concerned.” He winks at me before walking off.
I grip Landon’s shoulder. “I’ll text you and let you know how they’re doing.”
As if my ass is on fire, I rush down the hallway to SICU, stopping by my office to grab a lab coat. A nurse lets me into the surgical intensive care unit and I head up to the front desk where a familiar head nurse named Mae is writing something in a chart.
“Dr. Venable,” she greets in her no-nonsense tone, not lifting her gaze. “You’re not supposed to be in the SICU.” She finally looks up and cocks an eyebrow up as she scrutinizes me. This woman runs a tight ship, but she’s not immune to my good boy charm. I flash her a winning smile. “Oh, please, honey, like I ever had a chance of denying you access back here. Now Morris, on the other hand.” She tsks. “That boy is something else. Curtains two and three, hon.”
“Thanks, Mae.”
I rush over to curtain two. Lauren is being looked over by a male nurse. She’s still out of it as she comes off the anesthetic. I grab her hand and kiss her forehead.
“How is she?” I ask, my voice gruff.
“Vitals are good. Dr. Davis explained that surgery was a success?”