Kiera’s brows lift. “Kaden,” she says slowly. “What about the tour?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Luke clears his throat. “Reactivation is in two weeks.”
Two weeks.
Fuck.
I exhale and rub a hand over my jaw. “I can’t go. I hope you understand that.”
Effa’s eyes soften. She doesn’t argue, simply rests her hand on my back, and that somehow makes it worse.
Kiera shakes her head. “This is stupid.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“I’m going to be sitting here…” she gestures around dramatically, “… doing blood tests and sleeping. What exactly areyougoing to do? Sit at the end of my bed and stress yourself into an ulcer?”
“Kiera—”
“No. I’ve spent half my life behind closed doors, not living. I amnotletting you do the same because of me.” Her voice wavers, but she pushes through. “Go! Live! Come home for Christmas as we planned, and by then I’ll be glowing and upgraded.”
My jaw tightens. “I don’t like leaving mid-treatment.”
“You’re not,” she says. “The procedure’s done. Now it’s monitoring and recovery.”
“There are still risks,” I snap, unable to stop myself. “Rejection, infection… complications.”
She meets my eyes steadily. “If something happens, we call you. It’s that simple.” Silence stretches into uncomfortability. Then she tilts her head. “Effa needs you too, you know. She’s not exactly running at full capacity. I have Gran. Who does Effa have if you stay here?”
Effa huffs a quiet laugh.
And that’s the knife twist.
Because Kiera’s right.
Effa may have her crew, her bandmates, but she doesn’t have someone watching her every second, making sure she eats, rests, takes the meds, and doesn’t push too hard.
That’s me.
And the truth I don’t want to admit?
I want to go.
I love her.
Being away from Effa would tear something out of me. Plus… the lighting gig, the rafters, the adrenaline, the freedom, the whole reason I left Ligonier in the first place, so I could see the world. So I could build something bigger than grief and hospital rooms.
Kiera’s giving me permission to choose that.
I scrub a hand down my face. “I hate this.”
“Good,” she says. “Means you care.”
Luke steps in. “The jet’s on standby whenever you need it. Twenty-four seven, no hesitation.”
I look around the room.
