He exhaled, almost in pity. “I know. Now Imightbe able to pull some strings through colleagues, bypass some of the hospital bureaucracy, and cut that down drastically. I can’t erase the cost completely, but I could make it… less impossible.”
“How muchlessimpossible?”
“Best-case scenario? You’ll still be looking at around two hundred thousand… maybe one-seventy-five if everything aligns.”
I scoffed. “That’syour discount?”
He gave a faint, apologetic smile. “The surgery isn’t cheap, Ajori. But that number would include the pre-transplant testing, the surgery itself, recovery, and his first year of anti-rejection medication.”
“What about the risks?”
“The risks are the same whichever route you choose. There could still be rejection, complications, or even follow-up procedures. But Kyrin is young and otherwise healthy, and that works in his favor. His chances would be strong. The biggest risk is financial. Once you start this process privately, there’s no going back to the Medicaid list. You’ll be committing to that path. And if you can’t finish paying, there’s no surgery.”
I stared at him for a long moment. “Is thisalternativeeven legal?”
“Risky? Absolutely. But legal? Yes.”
“So say I can’t come up with the money. What then?” I was almost afraid to ask.
His expression softened. “Then we keep waiting. Ajori, you’ve been doing everything right. Just continue to keep him healthy and stable. Still, think about the alternative. I don’t want to see you lose him because the system moves too slow.”
My voice was low. “Then tell me how to speed it up without selling my soul, because two hundred thousand might as well be a million for me right now.”
“I don’t have that answer, but I do know this… desperate situations make people consider desperate options. Just please don’t go fullJohn Qon me,” he added with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the moment.
Then his tone turned serious again.
“Seriously, Ajori, whatever you do, think it through. Don’t let panic make decisions for you. You’re smart. You’ve kept your brother alive this long through sheer determination; that tells me you’re capable of finding a way. And if you do, I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Kyrin is ready when the time comes. For now, I’ll keep working the numbers, making calls, and seeing what doors might open.”
From the room, Kyrin called out, “Jo, can we get smoothies after this?”
I turned, forcing a smile for him. “Yeah, sport. We can get smoothies.”
But inside, all I could hear was that number.
Two hundred thousand?Where the hell would I come up with that amount of money in such short time?
