“They can’t be my person for this,” I reply vaguely and take a deep breath. “But before we get into that I wanted to talk to you about a paternity test again.”
“Fuck, Jake. You’re a broken record,” Aspen complains as Major drops his tennis ball a few feet ahead of us and charges at the crashing surf. He loves trying to bite the waves as they roll in. “I’ve been busy trying to salvage what’s left of my apartment and find a new place and battle corrupt insurance companies while also working for them, catching the people that defraud them and make them leery of genuine claimants like myself. Oh and barfing and feeling like I’ve been run over by a parade of Mack trucks. I’ve been busy doing that too.”
“I’m sorry but I need to know sooner rather than later,” I say, trying to sound firm but not like an asshole. “I have a lot of big things happening in my life right now and how and what I decide to do hinges on knowing if this is part of my future.”
Aspen stops too and bends to pick up the tennis ball that is now at our feet. Major leaves the waves alone and dances expectantly on his paws waiting for her to throw it. She does and he bolts after it. “I’ll get the blood test with you.”
“Really?”
She nods curtly.
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
“Now explain this whole emergency contact stuff and why it isn’t the twins, or Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins.”
“Finn is my emergency contact for work. Has been for years,” I explain as Major runs up the beach to the drier sand and starts to dig. There’s a couple of women up there on one of the benches by the dunes. Aspen squints to get a better look and make sure Major isn’t giving them a sand bath. Luckily, he’s not.
“But this is for the hospital because I need an operation and Terra is having an operation at the same time. Every member of the Hawkins family will be concerned with her, so I can’t … won’t ask them to be there for me, too.”
Aspen puts two fingers in her mouth and whistles and Major stops digging and runs right back. We continue walking and he’s glued to her side, tennis ball in his mouth, tail wagging. “What the hell do you need an operation for? And what does Terra need one for? And how the hell is it at the same time?”
“I’m donating a kidney. To Terra”
Aspen stops walking. “Holy shit, Jake. Terra needs a kidney?”
“Not for long. In forty-eight hours she’ll have mine,” I reply and brace for impact because Aspen is going to blow.
“Are you insane? That’s a major surgery! And what if you damage the one they leave in you at your highly dangerous job?” Aspen rants at me, her arms flailing to accentuate her words. “If you only have one, you can’t take risks. And all you ever do, Jake, is take risks. You have always put everyone else’s needs before your own. It’s like you don’t believe you’re as valuable as everyone else, especially the Hawkins.”
“Take a breath, Aspen,” I say and try not to be offended by her words.. “Tell me you wouldn’t give her one if you could. Tell me you’d let her suffer, even now, with your seemingly endless grudge match. Tell me to my face you wouldn’t give Terra a kidney if you could.”
Aspen’s lips form a flat line and she looks up at the pale blue sky above us. “Of course I would. I still love her like a sister even if I hate her.”
She starts walking again, the frown on her face turning into a bit of a smile. A wry one. “So I get a baby and she gets a kidney. Aren’t you a generous boy, Jake?”
“Not funny.”
“A little funny,” she argues and then pauses, tiling her head to the side. “So I have contacts at the hospital. Chatty nurses who love to gossip if I buy them some Dunkin’. I use them for cases, but I sometimes get info I don’t need. One of them told me Robbie Ellis burned his eyebrows off and when he was being treated, he mentioned seeing you making out with some girl in the woods by his house.”
“He was drunk.”
“He said the girl was, and I quote, ‘some tiny, little thing.’” Aspen cocks an eyebrow. “He said he thought you two were gonna go at it like bears in mating season.”
I rub the back of my neck with my hand and focus on Major. “You and I are not together, Aspen. I’m allowed to kiss anyone I want.”
“You kissed Terra.”
“Yes.” I reply, my voice calm, but hard.
She frowns. “Her brothers didn’t want you going anywhere near her, remember?”
“We were kids when they threatened to disown me. I’m sure that’s changed, and if it hasn’t, I don’t care.” I stare back at her, confident. I won’t be bullied or talked out of my feelings for Terra now like I was as a kid.
“Speaking of those brothers, can’t they donate? Or can’t another one of her loving, supportive family members do it instead of you?” Aspen asks and there’s definitely pain in her voice. She won’t look at me now, her eyes focused ahead on Major who is attacking the waves again.
“None are a viable option, but I am.”
“I’ve always been jealous of that, you know?” Aspen says quietly, eyes on the sand in front of us. “The way she has so many people who love her unconditionally. That, by the way, is part of what ruined our friendship.”
