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Gram. It had to be. “Do you know who it was from?”
“I thought it was from you. But obviously I was wrong.”
It didn’t matter now. “So they did the transplant? She has a new heart?”
William smiled. “A healthy one that’s beating strongly. She made it through the surgery great, which was the riskiest part. Going in, her chances of pulling through were on the short side of fifty-fifty. The vessel reattachment was complicated due to where her tumors had been located. But she fought the fight.”
“What happened then?”
“A blood clot got caught in the artery near her lungs. They kept her out for two days to let her body heal after the surgery. The afternoon they were going to lower the sedatives, she started having trouble breathing on her own. She’s on a ventilator now.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And an infection set in. It’s not looking too good.”
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck!
“Do you think we could check if it’s okay to go back in? I really want to see her.”
“Sure thing.” Her dad put his hand on my arm. “But son, I should warn you, she doesn’t look so good. She swelled all over from the blood clot, and she’s got machines with bells and whistles doing all of the work for her. It’s a lot to see.”
I swallowed. “Okay.”
All the warning in the world couldn’t have prepared me for what I found in Nora’s room. If William hadn’t led me to the bedside and picked up his daughter’s hand, I probably could have passed right by and thought it was someone else. Nora looked terrible. Her skin was pale, there was a fat tube threaded down her throat and taped into place on her face, and another smaller tube ran up her nose.
I couldn’t move from the doorway. Eventually, William came over. He rested his hand on my shoulder. “If it’s too much, I understand.”
“No. No. I’m sorry. It’s just…”
“I wanted to speak to the nurses, anyway.” He gestured toward the bed. “I’ll give you a few minutes alone. They say she might be able to hear us, so I’ve been talking to her.”
I forced myself to take William’s place at Nora’s bedside. What I wouldn’t give to change places with her right now. Why did the women I loved always have to endure so much when I rarely got a cold?
Leaning down, I kissed her forehead gently.
“Hey, beautiful.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe you had the surgery and didn’t tell me. I should be mad at you for that, but I’m too fucking happy you took the chance.” I brushed hair from her face. “I knew you were fearless. You are the strongest person I know. A woman who swims with sharks and jumps out of airplanes is not going to let a little blood clot keep her down. You’re going to pull through this, sweetheart. I’ll be honest, I was terrified on my way here, not knowing what the hell was going on. I let my mind go to some pretty dark places. But you have an angel watching over you now. And even if I had doubts about the doctors’ ability to bring you back to me, I haveno doubtthat Louise can do it.”
William came back a few minutes later. “You good?”
“I am now.” I smiled and took Nora’s hand. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. She’s going to make it.”
William smiled back. “She’s going to kick my butt when she finds out I called you.”
“It’s okay. I bet you’d be really happy to have her pissed off.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I would.”
“Me too.”
For the following forty-eight hours, nothing much changed. Nora was on heavy-duty blood thinners to ward off additional clots and a heavy dose of antibiotics to treat the infection. At one point, she sprung another fever, but her medical team managed to work through it. The doctors had warned though, that her heart rate had grown slower—likely from the infection—and each day, the chances of her pulling through declined.
I’d convinced William to go home and rest for a little while, but only on the condition that I’d take a break when he got back. I didn’t want to, but I also didn’t want to go back on my word with her father, whom I’d only just met. I thought I might crash in my rental car for a bit, so I could still be nearby.
William returned, looking a little more awake, and just as I was about to go, an older woman walked in. She had bright makeup and the type of smile that showed on her whole face. It went with her cheery pink blazer and the stickers all over the cart she was pushing.
“Good morning.” She stayed in the doorway. “I’m one of the volunteer angels.”
William and I nodded. “Morning.”
