“I went to another doctor after I consulted ChatGPT.”
The thing everyone uses nowadays. Like relying on Google for all your answers.
“My blood work revealed that I was in the early stages of kidney failure. Apparently, they misdiagnosed me. The doctor told me that had it been caught earlier, then we might have had a better chance at slowing it down... which is why he put me on a new experimental drug. He said that it had a forty percent success rate at slowing the process down. Right now, I’m officially on the transplant list. As my symptoms worsen, I’ll move up the list.”
“So, you need a transplant?” My mom asked.
I nodded, “Yeah.”
“Where do I go to get tested?” she asked.
I smiled at her and started crying again.
Bax nodded, “I’ll go get tested too. Hell, the department will get tested too.”
“I love you, Dad,” I said as tears trailed down my cheeks.
He was still for a beat, then two, and then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tightly into his chest.
“I’m so sorry it took me getting sick to finally give you the name you deserve,” I whispered in his ear.
He pulled his head slightly away from mine, “Known it in my heart since the first time I laid eyes on you, button. Know it now, too. Love you.”
My mom hesitantly asked, “What about Bronson, Cole, and Madalyn?”
That brought a fresh wave of tears into my eyes. Brokenly, I whispered, “Distance myself, I guess. After seeing how their mother treated them. I can’t be like her to them, I won’t be. But Bronson and I are over.”
They both gasped, and I shared what happened.
It was Dad who shared, “Seems to me that the man had a deep reason for reacting as he did. Hear him out. I’m not condoning him for it. I owe him a punch in the face.”
I giggled.
Mom nodded, “I agree with Bax, sun beam.”
Then Dad sighed, “Also, for Cole and Madalyn, if that’s the case, you need to tell them, button.”
I sighed as he winked, then wiped my tears away.
“I will. Just need some time.”
And that was how we made a plan.
They helped me talk to my boss about taking time from the company. They also talked to my landlord and explained what was going on; they got me out of my lease so I could move in with them.
Which led to now.
“I got the rest of your stuff from your bedroom packed up. The Whispering Falls Community Center will be here tomorrow to get all the donations.”
I smiled weakly at him and nodded, “Tha....”
What I was about to say was stalled by the banging at my door.
Dad frowned as he set the box by the rest of the boxes and my suitcases, moved to check the peephole, then looked back at me, “It’s Bronson.”
I sighed.
He banged against the door, “Lila, swear to Christ if this door isn’t opened in the next breath, I’m kicking the fucking thing in.”
