“Not sure it matters.Seems they’ve already judged me.Besides, I did manipulate you.You’re back in my bed, in my arms.I’m pretty Goddamned sure you never intended for that to happen.Hell, pretty sure you told me you weren’t sure what you wanted, yet here we are.”He tried to look away, but I wouldn’t let him.
“Bullshit,” I snapped, surprising us both with the vehemence in my tone.“You think they know you because they read your rap sheet?I know you.I’ve always known you.I know the man underneath all this.”I gestured at his tattooed face, his hardened exterior.“The man who sits for hours playing video games with our daughter even when she pretends she doesn’t want him there.The man who memorized her entire medication schedule faster than I did.The man who’s read every medical journal article on kidney transplants he could reasonably find to make sure he understands exactly what she’s facing.”I shook my head.“Those people don’t know you.Dr.Patel sees you.Trust in her.And if you think Knuckles can help you out, have him bring every idea he has.You’re the one who said your club is your family.”
Knight leaned into my touch, vulnerability raw on his face.“I can’t lose her when I’ve just found her,” he whispered, the confession so quiet I might have missed it if we hadn’t been standing inches apart.
“You won’t,” I promised, pouring every ounce of conviction I possessed into those two words.“This afternoon, you’ll go in there and make them see what I see.What Dr.Patel sees.A father who would move heaven and earth for his child.”
“And if that’s not enough?”The fear in his voice broke my heart all over again.
“Then we’ll fight harder,” I said simply.“We’ll appeal, we’ll find advocates, we’ll go to the media if we have to.They don’t get to decide our daughter’s fate based on paperwork.I won’t let them.”
Knight’s uninjured hand came up to cover mine on his cheek.“When did you get so fierce?”he asked, a hint of wonder in his voice.
“I’ve always been fierce,” I replied.“Had to be.I was raisingyourkid.”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips.“Yeah, you were.”He exhaled shakily, pressing his forehead against mine.“You did a fantastic job too.”
We stood there in the concrete stairwell, foreheads touching, breathing each other’s air, my hands on his face and his blood soaking through the makeshift bandage between us.Two broken people who’d somehow found their way back to each other, united by a love for the child who carried pieces of us both.
“Together,” Knight murmured, the word a promise.
“Together,” I agreed, knowing that whatever challenges lay ahead, we’d face them side by side.
Chapter Eleven
Knight
I rushed down the hospital corridor with Lavender’s hand clutched in mine, my makeshift paper towel bandage balled in my fist to hold it in place.The glare of the fluorescent lights needled my eyes like angry wasps, casting everyone we passed in that sickly, unnatural glow that made even healthy people look half-dead.I’d never felt more like I was in prison since I’d gotten out of Terre Haute than I did at that moment.
I gripped the paper towel around my injured hand while still holding the phone to my ear, telling Knuckles I needed a plan while dodging a nurse pushing a medication cart.My heart hammered against my ribs, every beat a reminder that time was ticking away for Brynn.If this got delayed more than a day, the likelihood of Brynn being on dialysis the rest of her life looked like a very real possibility.And I would not stand for it.
“I don’t give a fuck what it takes,” I growled into the phone, lowering my voice as we passed a patient’s open door.“These committee assholes have six hours to get their heads out of their asses before they decide if I’m worthy enough to save my own daughter.”
Lavender’s fingers tightened around mine, a silent reminder to watch my volume.I shot her an apologetic look, squeezed her hand back, grateful for her steady presence beside me when everything else felt like it was crumbling to dust.I stopped briefly in the hall, moving to the wall so we wouldn’t be in the way.I pulled Lavender into my arms and held her while I talked to Knuckles on the phone.
“Already on it, brother,” Knuckles replied, his voice a gravelly rumble through the phone.“We’re all here now.Brought the cavalry.”
I froze mid-stride.“What do you mean, ‘all here’?”
“Ada texted.Said you might need backup.Dr.Patel stopped by after you guys left her office and told us the news.Said it was strictly against policy for her to be talking to us without Lavender’s consent but figured you guys wouldn’t mind given the circumstances.Hannah and I got here as quickly as we could.You just tell me what you guys need and I’ll take care of it.”
Me and Lavender rounded the corner to Brynn’s hospital room, and I felt my chest constrict at the sight before me.Through the half-open door, I could see Knuckles himself, sitting in a chair by the window, phone to his ear.He dropped his arm when he saw me approach.Ada and Hannah flanked Brynn’s bed like sentinels, while Jag stood with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his face set in that impassive mask that had kept him alive in prison all those years.
Monitors beeped in steady rhythm around my daughter’s bed.Each beep meant she was still here, still fighting, but also that she was tethered to these machines, growing weaker by the hour while a bunch of strangers decided if I was morally fit to give her my fucking kidney.
I shoved my phone into my pocket as I entered the room.Brynn lay sleeping, her face pale and puffy from the fluid buildup.Her blue hair splayed across the pillow.The sight of her so small and vulnerable sent a fresh wave of rage and helplessness crashing through me.
“Knight,” Ada whispered, rising to meet us.Her eyes widened at the sight of my bloodied hand.“What happened?”
“Picked a fight with a wall.Wall won,” I muttered, ignoring her concerned look.“Knuckles.Hallway.Now.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked back out, knowing he would follow.I couldn’t have this conversation in front of Brynn, even with her asleep.Couldn’t risk her hearing the fear in my voice.
Knuckles appeared beside me a moment later, closing the door partway behind him.
“Talk to me,” he said simply.
I ran my good hand through my hair in frustration, pacing a tight circle in the empty hallway.“We’ve got six hours before the meeting with the transplant committee.Six hours to figure out how to convince them I’m not some criminal trying to take advantage of a helpless woman and her daughter.Or whatever the fuck they think I’m doing.”
