She shook her head. “And I know it’s not a good reason to adopt any child, but we decided to go through with things because—”
When she looked over at Dad, I knew. “You didn’t want Dad being alone.”
“I know it wasn’t right,” she said as her entire body shivered at her words. “I know it’s not right, and it wasn’t the right way to make the kind of decision that we did. But I didn’t think your father could handle two kids by himself. So, when the doctor told us that your mother had given birth to two girls and not just one, we made the hardest call of our entire lives.”
Her explanation didn’t do much with my anger. But it certainly didn’t add to things. The pain in my mother’s eyes was evident. The way Dad wrapped his arms around her and held her close told me everything that I needed to know. She thought she was dying. She thought she was dying, and she didn’t want to leave Dad behind to pick up the pieces by himself.
“You wanted to give him something to live for,” I murmured, releasing her hands.
“I know it’s not—not right,” Mom said, her voice hiccupped with her sobs. “I know we’ve hurt you so—so much. But, I swear, we didn’t do it maliciously. We didn’t do it intentionally. And when I had that kidney removed and pulled through the cancer, I think your father and I were so desperate to leave all of the stress and worry behind that we just—”
“—didn’t talk about it,” I said.
“Yeah,” Dad said with a nod of his head.
Hurt. Pain. Sorrow. It permeated through my room. It radiated from my parents, and the pain that wafted over their faces as Mom cried on Dad’s shoulder, was too much for me. I pushed myself up from the mattress. I walked over to my desk and pulled out the chair. I sat down, watching as my parents held one another. Watching as they cried with one another. Waiting for my reaction. Waiting for me to do something, or say something, or give them something to make things better. We couldn’t make things better, though. Not now.
All we could do was… move forward.
“She wanted my organs,” I said softly.
Mom picked up her head. “What?”
I picked at a hangnail. “Rachel, my twin sister. I don’t know how much you know about what happened to me or whatever, but—”
“Why don’t you tell us what you went through?” Dad asked.
Mom stared at me intently. “You’re the only one that will be able to tell us how it impacted you from your standpoint. So, if you’re willing to talk about it, we’re all ears.”
I furrowed my brow. “Really?”
“Yes,” Dad said as he scooted away from Mom and patted the bed between them, “really.”
I dragged my tired body over to the bed and slumped in between them, clinging to my towel for dear life. “You know she was born with a blood clotting disorder, right?”
“Yes,” Mom said softly.
“So, you can only imagine the medical costs and tolls that came with it.”
“Yes,” Dad said just as softly.
“Well,” I said, drawing in a deep breath, “her organs are failing, I guess.”
“What?” Mom asked.
“Is she all right?” Dad asked.
I shook my head. “No. I’m not sure she’ll ever be all right, but it is what it is. I don’t think she even realized that I existed until the guys that were protecting me mistook me for her.”
“Why were they looking for her?” Mom asked.
I knew better than to tell that particular truth, but that didn’t mean I had to lie. “She’s a professional assassin, Mom. They were searching for her because she killed someone they loved.”
“My God,” Dad said.
“She came after you, didn’t she?” Mom asked.
I shook my head softly as I turned toward her. “It’s hard to say which came first: whether those guys found me first and that brought me to the forefront, or whether Rachel knew about me, and they scooped me up for my protection. Either way, I’m alive because of them. We ended up figuring out that part of the reason why she came after me so hard is because her organs are failing. We all know as well as she does that dialysis and things of that nature are only temporary fixes. It’s no way to live a life.”
