“I thought Knight would go first,” I said to the same nurse, my voice wavering ever so slightly.
“He is.But the second team is ready for Brynn.They like to take some extra prep time to make sure everything is as they expect before the actual organ removal.”
I nodded.“After everything we’ve gone through the last twenty-four hours, that extra work is much appreciated.”
“Which is why we’re doing it.”She leaned in and gripped my shoulder.“I promise, we’ll take good care of both of them.”
Brynn’s gurney began to move, and Knight’s orderlies positioned themselves to follow.I stood frozen between them, suddenly unsure who to follow, who to touch last, what final words to leave them with.
“We’ll be back before you know it,” Knight said, his voice steady despite the emotion I could see in his eyes.“And then you’ll have to put up with both of us being insufferable while we recover.”
“Mr.Leahy, we need to move now,” his orderly said.
I leaned down and kissed him deeply, not caring who was watching.When I pulled back, his black eyes were warm with love.
I watched as they wheeled him toward the door, following close behind as they pushed both gurneys down the corridor toward the operating suites.By some coincidence, or perhaps the nurses had done it on purpose, Knight’s gurney caught up with Brynn’s at the intersection of two hallways.
For a moment, they were side by side, father and daughter, about to give and receive the most profound gift possible.Knight reached across the space between them, his tattooed fingers curled into a light fist.
“Hey,” he called softly.“I want a rematch on that game when we’re back on our feet.You hustled me on that last round.”
Brynn turned her head toward him, that familiar half-smile spreading across her face.“I’d be happy to kick your ass again,” she replied, reaching out to fist bump him.“Anytime.”
“Language,” Knight and I said in perfect unison.
Brynn actually laughed, the sound echoing in the hallway.“You two are already annoying as a team.”
Then the moment was over.The gurneys separated, each heading toward different operating rooms.I stood at the intersection, watching them both being wheeled away from me, feeling physically torn in half.The last thing I saw before the doors closed was Knight’s hand raised in a final wave, and Brynn’s blue hair splayed across her pillow.
I pressed my hand to my mouth.Now came the hardest part.The waiting, the hoping, the desperate prayer that I would soon have them both back, forever changed but forever mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Knight
I shifted in the hospital recliner that had been molded to my ass over the past five days, ignoring the burning ache radiating from my own surgical scar.The nurses had stopped trying to enforce visiting hours with me around day three, as well as trying to keep me in the fucking hospital bed.Maybe it was the tattoos on my face or the permanent scowl that made my dissent clear, but more likely it was because I’d made friends with the night shift supervisor by ensuring the staff break room never ran out of decent coffee.Whatever the reason, they now worked around me like I was just another piece of medical equipment in Brynn’s room.
Brynn stirred restlessly in her sleep, her face pale against the white hospital sheets.IV lines snaked from her thin arm like translucent vines, feeding her the cocktail of anti-rejection meds and painkillers the doctors insisted she needed.Her blue hair had lost some of its vibrancy, lying flat against the pillow.I leaned forward, resisting the urge to brush a strand from her forehead.We weren’t quite there yet.
The monitors beeped steadily, a reassuring rhythm I’d come to rely on.The surgeon had taken my kidney five days ago, and technically I’d been discharged two days back, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I was leaving.Lavender had reluctantly returned to the hotel for a proper shower and change of clothes, promising to be back by evening.That left me on watch duty.Exactly where I wanted to be.
Brynn’s eyelids fluttered, then opened.She blinked several times, orienting herself, before her gaze landed on me.
“Water?”I asked, already reaching for the plastic cup on her tray.
She nodded, wincing as she tried to sit up.I pressed the button to raise the head of her bed, then held the straw to her lips.She took several small sips before pulling back.She’d been up and moving around and hoped to go home either today or tomorrow.The disgruntled way she refused help sometimes made me smile.The independence was fierce with this one.
“You look like shit,” she muttered, her voice raspy from sleep.
I snorted.“Thanks.Good to see you, too.”
There was something different in her tone, less of the sharp hostility that had marked our early interactions.Maybe it was the drugs.I hoped that, by fighting to give her what she needed, maybe she’d finally started to believe in me.Either way, I’d take it.
“Mom coming back soon?”she asked, picking at the edge of her blanket.
“I told her this afternoon, the reality is she’ll likely be here before ten.Whenever she gets here, Ada’s making her eat some actual food before she heads over.”I reached into my backpack at my feet.“Got something to pass the time.”
I pulled out a battered paperback, its spine cracked and pages yellowed with age.The cover showed a dragon coiled around a mountain fortress, the once-vibrant colors faded from years of handling.
