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“No, it’s going to be fine, Grace. Ollie is strong.”
I wanted to believe him. I knew my little boy was strong, but what if it was too late? We only had a matter of time before his other organs would start shutting down. What if that time was now?
I looked up at Alex as he whispered, “We’ll get him a new kidney.”
“Do you know if you’re a match yet?”
“Not yet, but they’re going to rush the tests. We should know soon.”
“I hope so, but what if–”
“Shh,” Alex said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “No ‘what ifs’, our son is going to be fine.”
It felt like an eternity until that door opened back up, and when it did, my heart stopped, fearing the worst. It was strangely quiet in the room as everyone exited with solemn looks on their faces.
Ollie’s doctor came over to us and I almost didn’t want him to speak, afraid of what he was going to say.
“Please–” I begged the universe one last time. “Please let my little boy be okay.”
“Ollie’s vitals crashed,” the doctor spoke in a soft voice. “But we managed to stabilize him for now. Obviously, we need to act fast to find him a kidney, but hopefully we have bought him at least a few more days or weeks.”
“Days?”
“Hopefully more than that.”
I hated that we didn’t have any answers. We didn’t know how much time we’d have with him.
“We’ll know soon if you’re a match, Mr. Denning,” the doctor said.
“And in the meantime?” I asked.
“We wait.”
Chapter 15
Alex
“I wish I had come back to town sooner,” I whispered to myself.
“You couldn’t have known,” Grace said from beside me.
She had been so quiet up until that point, I thought she had fallen asleep. She needed to rest, she was running on fumes now, but I couldn’t blame her for not being able to relax.
Without giving it a second thought, I reached over and took her hand in mine. I gave it a squeeze.
“It’s going to be okay. It has to be,” I said.
She offered a small smile and closed her eyes, resting her head against the back of the chair. She didn’t sleep though; I could tell she was alert and ready to jump at any sound from Ollie.
Poor girl, I thought. She had been doing this for years, worrying about our little boy alone. I was only getting a taste of what her life had been like the last few years.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I knew who it was before I even picked it up.
I slipped my hand out of Grace’s and walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind me.
“Hi, Mom,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“The funeral is in a few hours,” she said, speaking slowly. “Where are you? Please tell me you’re not on a bender–”
