She nods. “But what were the chances? I kept telling myself I wasn’t feeling well, my mind was all over the place with being sick. But the birthmark was so unique.” She shakes her head and grows quiet as if she’s lost in her head.
It’s not until she says that that I remember the reason Bastion and I were here in the first place. I take in the dark grooves under her eyes and the sick color to her skin.
“What happened at your appointment?”
She shakes her head. “That’s not important now.”
Fear grips me in icy hands. “What did the doctor say? Please, I don’t want to be kept in the dark anymore.”
She looks at me with sorrow, as if she’s sad she has to deliver worse news after everything that’s already happened today. I brace myself for what comes next.
“I have to start dialysis immediately while they look for a kidney donor.”
“I’ll give you one of mine!” I grip her hands.
She offers me a small smile. “Oh, sweetie, we’ll talk about this later. It’s been a long day.”
“And if you can’t find a donor?” I ask.
Her small smile fades, and she inhales. The truth is outlined in her deep wrinkles, and her eyes don’t have a lot of hope. Without words, I know exactly what the doctor told her.
I gasp as my world crumbles for the second time today.
47
BASTION
My phone rings on my nightstand. I’ve been holed up in my condo in Seattle since I returned from Wisconsin.
After I heard Carla refer to me by my birth name, it took me a moment to figure out how she could have possibly known it was me. Then it dawned on me—my birthmark. It’s not something I give much thought since it’s on my back, but of course it would draw her attention.
There was no way I could deny it, and I prepared myself then to lose Hattie. I knew my entire plan was about to blow up in my face. While I’d once envisioned the look on Hattie’s face when she found out, thinking I’d revel in it, the truth is that it nearly destroyed me.
The devastation on her face as if I was a stranger was almost my undoing. The only reason I left is because I thought it would do her more harm than good if I stuck around. But she’s certifiable if she thinks this is the end of us. I still have a fight inside me, and I will get her to forgive me.
How I’m going to fight remains to be seen, though. Right now, Hattie needs space, but she better not get used to living without me.
I roll over to pick up my phone, and my head pounds, as if my brain is crashing against my skull with every movement.
I haven’t gotten blackout drunk in a long time. After dealing with insurance all day, having to talk to the fire investigator, answering questions to prove that I didn’t start the fire, and figuring out what to do for my staff that are now out of a job until the place can be rebuilt or I find another location, all I craved was the dark oblivion where the sharp edges of my problems dulled to a tolerable level.
With the phone in hand, I hold it up. Through bleary eyes, I see my brother-in-law’s name and bolt up into a sitting position.
Fuck, I grab my head. That was a mistake.
Cringing against the pain, I press on the screen to accept the call. “Obsidian.”
His deep chuckle echoes through the phone, sounding like a pair of cymbals smashing together right next to my ear. I pull the phone away from my ear and put him on speaker, tossing the phone on the bed beside me.
“You certainly sound like shit.”
“Thanks. Kick a guy while he’s down, why don’t you?”
He sighs. “Ariana told me everything that’s been going on with you. I can empathize with having a shit parent. It’s a mind fuck, I know.”
I don’t know the details, but from all that my sister has said, his father was a nightmare to him and his three brothers growing up.
“She may feel differently, but I don’t blame you for wanting revenge on the bitch who bore you,” he says.
