Dante looked up. Shannon sat down across from him.
“It’s official. UNOS has your file. It’ll take time, but it’s movement. In the meantime, we’re cleared to begin living donor testing.”
He glanced between them.
“Family. Friends. Anyone willing. We can start as early as tomorrow. With your permission, I’ll put out a company-wide memo.”
Dante looked down at the machine, the tube slowly filling. The rhythmic sound of fluid exchange. “I guess that’s best.”
He used to track terrorist cells by satellite. Now he was sitting in a quiet room, cycling sugar water through his abdomen to survive.
“Thanks,” he said quietly.
Jamie clapped him once on the shoulder. “You're doing everything right, Dante. One day at a time.” He headed for the door. “I’ll check labs in the morning. Get some sleep. Both of you.”
The door clicked shut behind him.
Dante exhaled slowly. “Friends and family, huh?”
“I’ve got some calls to make.”
He gave her a tired grin. “You’re not testing.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want you to keep flying,” he said. “If I take one of your kidneys, the Air Force will cut you off.”
She leaned across and kissed his cheek. “We’re going to make it through this.”
He rested his hand on the machine’s edge, then reached for hers. "Yeah, but I still want a second shot at making love without Jamie interrupting us.”
Shannon laughed—tired, real, and warm.
Miriam waiteduntil Shannon stepped out to take a shower before she moved closer.
She pulled the chair up beside the bed and sat, close enough Dante could feel her presence without looking. For a moment, neither of them spoke. “You look thinner,” she said finally.
He smiled faintly. “You always start with that.”
“Because it’s always true.” She reached out to rest her hand over his. Her grip was warm. Steady. “But you’re here. That’s what matters.”
She took a breath. “Ian called me the day you were taken.”
Dante’s jaw tightened. “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” she said gently. “I sat in my office and listened to him explain what he couldn’t tell me. That’s a special kind of terror, Dante. The kind where your imagination fills in everything. And a few days later, he told me all the reasons I couldn’t come the day they found you.”
He closed his eyes, letting the guilt wash through without resisting it. “I never wanted?—”
“I know,” she said again, softer still. “You’ve never wanted to hurt us. That’s why it hurts so much when you disappear into danger.”
She squeezed his hand. “I need you to know something. I’ve been tested. Your sister’s been tested. Scott too.”
His eyes opened. “Ma?—”
“Don’t,” she said, not sharply, just firmly. “You don’t get to decide what we’re willing to do for you. That stopped being your call the day you were born.”
Emotion crept up his throat. Dante laughed once, breath hitching. “I’m sorry I scared you.” The words came rough, scraped from somewhere deep. “I never wanted to be the call in the middle of the night.”
