Mac’s placing everything neatly into my bag when heabruptly pauses and pulls something out of the bag. He turns the frame over in his hands and smiles up at me.
“You brought it with you?”
“Of course I did.” I can’t help the small smile that pulls at my lips. The picture of us as just kids sits delicately in Mac’s hands. I couldn’t have him with me, so I brought that picture with me, as well as the countless pictures of us on my phone.
“I love you.” His eyes don’t leave mine as he walks over to the bed and presses his lips to mine.
“I love you, Quill.” I whisper against his lips before pulling back. “Now, let’s get to the hospital so I can get a new kidney.” Exhaustion settles deep into my bones, but I’m too excited to allow it to take over. I’m getting a new kidney, and we’re getting the life we deserve.
33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Jakob
Standing awkwardly outside of Declan’s hospital room, I try to work up the courage to walk inside. He may say he hates me, and God knows I hate him just as much. He may say that he’d kill me at his first available opportunity. Which, ditto… But he’s giving my sister a new kidney, a whole new life, and I can’t even repay him for that. Taking a deep breath, I push my nerves down and push into Declan’s room. He’s sitting up in bed with a hospital gown on, smirking and making small talk with a nurse. He’s such a cocky asshole.
I must catch his eye because he turns his attention to me, “Fischer.”
I nod in acknowledgment. “Byrne.”
The nurse quickly looks between the two of us before smiling at me. Then, because not only did I just see him flirting with her, but also I love nothing more than pissingDeclan off.
I wink at her, “Hi, I’m Jakob.”
“Mandy.” She gives me a shy smile.
“My sister is here for a transplant, so I’m sure I’ll see you around.” I flash my white teeth and mentally high five myself when she blushes and excuses herself.
With the room empty except for the two of us, I can drop the hard ass act and drop down in the chair by his bed. My head tips back until I’m staring at the ceiling, and I take a deep breath and hold it before letting all the air out of my lungs. My eyes close for just a minute. I need just a minute to collect my thoughts, and even though he hates me, I know he’s going to let me have this.
He doesn’t say a word as I breathe through my nerves. Dec knew about Lelonie without actually knowing about her. He knew my family adopted a girl who had a rough past. He also knew that I spent a year sleeping against the wall beside her door, then eventually slept on a pallet on the floor by her bed. I did that for years to keep the nightmares at bay.
I knew he understood because he’s been sleeping while propped up against Mac’s bed on and off since they were kids. Sometimes when holding our little siblings together got too much, we would show up at each other’s house and just do this. I’m the oldest so keeping everyone safe, happy, and healthy just came with the job title. Dec, on the other hand, was thrown into this role. That, and he always had a soft spot for Mac. I think he saw demons dancing behind his little brother’s eyes from the moment his best friend, who would later become my sister, went missing.
Yeah, we would keep one of those trashy daytime shows in business for a long time with our shit.
After giving myself about five minutes, I pull my head back up and open my eyes to find Dec watching me.
“You look like you need a truce.” He says.
“Please.” It’s the only word I can get out before the tears burn the backs of my eyes.
“Talk to me, Jake.” His voice has softened slightly.
“You’re giving my sister your kidney. You hate me. Hell, half the time I hate you too, but you’re making sure my sister gets to live.”
“Your sister is my family now too. You should know by now that I’d do anything for my brothers. Even if that means giving up a kidney. I don’t need it anyway.” He tries to brush it off like he isn’t about to go into surgery and have an organ taken from his body and put into Lelonie’s.
“Yeah, that’s a huge deal, dude. That’s something I could never repay you for.” My eyes drop from his to my hands as my fingers twine around each other to soothe my nerves.
“You can repay me by looking out for Mac during all this while I’m out of it. He’s going to struggle, Jake. He needs someone to not judge him and just hang out with him while she’s under.”
Fucking, Dec. Always the nurturer, even when he’ll be in surgery. “Yeah, I’ve got him.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see Annie’s name flash on the screen.
Annie: Where are you?
