Chapter Thirty-Nine
Carter
“Dr. Donovan, you have a call on line two,” a nurse tells me as I walk down the hall.
“This is Dr. Donovan,” I say after I pick up the receiver.
“You did it,” I hear someone say, and before I can ask what they’re talking about, they continue. “We found a match for your patient at the event you put together.” I hear Kathy, the woman who helped me organize the donor drive.
“Yes!” I cheer. “So it’s someone local then? Are they coming in?”
“Yes, they’ve already been contacted and have agreed to go through with the procedure. And guess what? The donor works at the law firm you got to sponsor the event, so I guess you deserve the credit for finding the donor, not us.”
Nope. Not me. Cole.
Dammit.Is my first thought but then I shake my head. I shouldn’t feel that way. This is for Kyle. We found him a donor, and right now, that’s all that matters.
Kathy gives me the rest of the information and tells me when I should expect the donor to come in. We hang up, and I know there’s one more thing I need to do before I go in search of Kyle and his parents.
I pick up my cell phone and press the name of someone I’d never thought I’d call again.
The phone rings, and just when I think it’s going to voicemail, he picks up. “Please don’t make me regret answering this phone call. You already got the girl. Don’t rub it in.”
“I’m not. I’m calling to tell you we found a donor for Kyle from the event. Turns out it’s someone from your work.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. I can’t tell you how happy I am right now.” I guess I mean more than Kyle and his donor. I owe Cole for a lot of things. No matter what just happened, he was there for me for a long time, and now that I have Evangeline back, I can truly see I was able to make it through some really bad times because of him.
He pauses before responding, “I’m glad to hear it. Tell the little man to get better now, okay?”
“Okay.”
We both sit on the line, not saying a word for a few breaths when I finally speak up. “Hey, Cole. I’m, I guess I’m calling to say thank you.”
“Any time, bro,” he says, putting my mind at ease. It may take time, but one day we could have some kind of friendship again.
We hang up, and I turn, ready to run down the hallway to tell Kyle and his parents the good news.
* * *
“Are we celebrating or what?” Evangeline says as she enters my place with a bottle of champagne.
We’ve been together every night since Cole left her place after he bowed out respectfully, finally showing me the man I know he really is. I can’t blame the guy one bit, though. I’ve gone crazy over Evangeline too, so I know the blind haze he was under.
I pick her up, swinging her around, enjoying the absolute bliss my life has become in such a short amount of time. Finally having her back is a dream come true, and finding a donor for Kyle is my cherry on top.
“I still can’t believe it,” I admit. “I felt so helpless not being able to do anything and when I got the phone call today.” I put her down, dropping my head back in relief. “Man, it was just the best feeling ever.” I sigh with nothing but happiness creeping up my face.
“So how did you tell his parents?”
I laugh out loud. “You should have seen it. I ran to their room, literally falling over when I tripped on a chair that was sitting in his doorway. Of course Kyle gave me shit for it, but it was awesome to rile him right back by saying, ‘I may be a klutz, but I’m finally going to save your ass.’”
I pause, having to take a breath before the emotions of telling them take over and tears of joy spill from my eyes. Evangeline notices my moment and wraps her arms around me, bringing her lips to mine.
“I love you, Dr. Carter Donovan,” she says while dropping her head to my chest. “I still can’t believe I’m here. With you. Who would have thought?”
We sit in an embrace for a moment. I question if I should bring it up but decide it’s worth it.
