Page 579 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

The doctor keeps talking.

They still need to get Maria’s labs back.

Anesthesia still needs to clear her.

The transplant team still needs to accept the liver. They still need to make sure Maria’s body can survive the surgery, which is fucking crazy ‘cause it’s guaranteed to not survive without the surgery.

“The offer is promising,” the transplant coordinator adds soft, almost reassuring. “That’s why we moved quickly. But if the organ isn’t suitable, or if Maria isn’t safe to proceed, we’ll have to cancel.”

Paola’s expression shatters.

She’s standing next to Andrew, her hand landing on his shoulder, tears resuscitating in her eyes at the thought this could be ripped away.

Andrew ignores her, reaching for the paperwork. “Okay,” he says, eyes on the clipboard as he starts filling it out.

Consent.

Proxy verification.

Surgical consent.

Blood transfusion.

Medication list.

Allergy history.

“But how could this be?” Maria asks the doctor. “I was inactive.”

Andrew’s pen stops for a beat.

Then it starts moving again.

“You’re active,” he says, flicking a look over at her. It’s a miracle, Ma. Let the doctor talk.”

The doctor confirms with a nod,

and Andrew flips to the next page,

signing for his mother’s life.

“Okay,” Maria finally says after another hour of waiting in mostly silence. “What happened?”

She has a warm blanket pulled up to her neck, an IV hooked to her hand, tape pulling each time she tugs.

Andrew looks up from his phone.

“What?”

“You two.” Her finger moves between Andrew and me, sitting across the room from each other—me, at one end of the couch against the window, and him, isolated in the chair against the opposite wall, putting painfully obvious distance between us.

One second he’s staring at me,

knee bouncing under his hand,

knuckles pressed against his mouth,

hating the distance he’s created.