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I don’t blame them. It can’t be easy to do your job when there’s a man with a bomb vest pointing a gun at your head. But I can’t let them go either. Not until it’s done.
It feels like it takes ages for them to give her the transplant, but I don’t move a muscle until they’re finished.
As they sew her back up, I ask, “Did it work?”
“Well, we’ve cut out the cancerous parts, but her body took quite a hit,” the surgeon explains, taking off his bloody gloves.
“Tell me the truth,” I say, trying not to look at the wound in my daughter’s belly. It hurts to watch, but I have to keep looking to make sure it’s done correctly. If it helps her live, then it’s a necessary evil.
“So far, her body is accepting the liver, but we don’t know for sure until—”
“Will she survive?” I interrupt.
“If she takes her meds …” the doctor says. “Probably, yes.”
The nurses attempt to wheel her bed away, so I stop them. “Where are you going with her?”
“The recovery room. She needs to come to from the anesthetics,” the nurse explains.
“Her body has been through a lot,” the doctor says. “She needs time to heal.”
“How do I know you won’t take the transplant out when I’m gone?” I spit, not taking any chances.
The doctor raises his hands. “We never take out transplants unless they’re being rejected.”
“So if her body accepts the liver, she gets to keep it?”
He sighs out loud then, and with a bleak face, he says, “Yes.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief too. “And the body? What will you do with it?”
“The coroner will handle it.”
I nod a couple of times. “One final thing … don’t tell my wife. Ever. I don’t want her to know where Daisy got her transplant. Got it?”
“But she needs to know her girl is going to get better,” the doctor says, frowning.
I grab him by the collar. “She can’t know the liver came from him, or she’ll demand it to be taken out. I won’t have it.”
The doctor raises his hands, saying, “Okay. Okay. We won’t say anything.”
“Good.” I walk toward the bed and kiss my little girl on the cheeks. “Stay strong. Get better fast. You’ll be home before you know it.” I squeeze her hand again. It’s probably the last time I’ll see her. Maybe forever.
I forfeited the right to regret my actions the moment I made this decision.
And as the nurses wheel her out, the doctors evacuate the OR, and the police come in to arrest me. I take off the bomb vest and chuck it away, then I go to my knees.
I won’t fight. There’s no reason to. Not anymore.
The police hurl me to the ground like wrestlers, sitting on top of me to restrain me and take my gun away from me.
I don’t care. None of it matters as long as she lives.
I’ve fulfilled my purpose.
I killed a man and sacrificed my freedom to save a girl.
Anyone would do the same for their baby.
Chapter Eleven
Lillian
After
I stare at the picture of my daughter hanging on the wall. She’s holding a blue balloon and a giant teddy bear with some tubes still going into her nostril. I took that picture when she was still in the hospital and kept it in my wallet to remind myself of how far she’s come.
This photograph was one of the few things I was allowed to keep here in prison. It’s all I need to keep me sane. To keep me going.
I’m fighting the system, but I’ll do it the right way. My trial is coming soon, and my lawyers are doing their best to get me out. But until then, I’ll stay put and wait out my time.
It was my choice to make, my decision that brought me here, and I don’t regret it. Not even for a second.
Hanson finally gets to spend time with his little girl. The time he fought so hard to deserve.
If I’d known he’d killed a man to give Daisy a new liver, I would’ve asked the doctors to take it out even though I knew her chances were slim. She was not at the top of the list to receive one, and no donors were in sight. But my moral code would’ve stopped me from ever accepting what he did if I’d known he was going to do it.
No wonder he didn’t tell me until now. He probably forced the staff to keep it a secret from me too, so I wouldn’t ruin it. Of course, that’s just like him. Always thinking ahead.
He sacrificed everything he had, and what did I do? I chastised him. Wished him dead for killing a man who was already going to jail and leaving his little girl without a father to grow up with.
