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Chapter 1
"I'll figure something out Charlotte," I say for the third time.
She squeezes my hand, giving me a weak smile that breaks my heart. "I know."
I don't know if she believes herself any more than I believe her. Any more than I believe my own reassurances to her. Because I have no idea where I'm going to get the money to pay for her kidney transplant. Only that I need to get that money, somehow, someway. And quick.
"I'll just go talk to the financial department again. There has to be something they can do to help."
She scoffs. "They won't even put me on the list until they know that we can pay for the transplant. I feel like that's borderline attempted murder."
Her words hurt like hell, but I chuckle along with her anyway. Then I shake my head. "I don't understand why they're willing to cover the medicine for after the surgery, but not the surgery itself. It's stupid."
"It's greedy. You need to pay us $260,000 for the surgery, but hey, we'll cover the $17,000 in anti-rejection drugs after. You know, if you make it, and your body doesn't reject the kidney."
"Char," I murmur.
"Sorry, that got a little darker than I meant for it to. It's just so frustrating. I can't do anything to help from this hospital bed. I don't have a job, have no insurance, so all of this falls on your shoulders. My little sister's shoulders. There is not a single part of this that doesn't suck."
"I know, but we'll..."
"Figure it out. I know. It's what we do. What we've always done."
"You and me against the world." I grip her hand tighter. "Not even kidney failure is gonna bring us down."
"That bitch sure is trying, though." She laughs, and I can't help but join in.
The nurse, Veronica, comes into the room, a smile stretching across her face. "Well, it's good to hear you ladies laughing."
I'm so grateful for her. With Charlotte having already been here for over a month, Veronica has kept her company, in this room and during dialysis, and kept her smiling, when I wasn't able to be here. Ever since she asked if our parents would be visiting and I told her they’d died when we were younger, she’d taken to watching over Charlotte a lot closer. It was a little more bearable leaving here knowing that Veronica checks on her throughout the night while I’m at work.
"Everything looking good today?" I ask as she takes Charlotte's blood pressure.
"The same," she answers. "Which in this case, same means good.”
I nod, looking down at my phone. Why does the time always pass so quickly when I'm with my sister? Sighing, I look back at Charlotte and find her already staring at me, sadness in her eyes. I can feel the apology coming, but like every other time, it's not needed. So, I speak before she can.
"I've gotta get going to work," I say as I stand.
Charlotte always feels bad when I have to leave for work, a job she feels her sickness has trapped me in. Would I have chosen to leave school to be a waitress at a diner with a dickhead for a boss because it got me good tips? No, but was I more than willing to do it for my sister? Yes. I lean over and kiss her cheek.
"I'll call you when I get off."
"Don't forget. You know I can't sleep until I know you made it home."
"Yes, mom." I chuckle as I walk toward the door. "Bye, Veronica."
"See you tomorrow, honey. As for you, I believe we have a scrabble game for you to lose."
"In your dreams." Charlotte laughs.
I smile as I leave, holding that sound close to my heart. Because the fact is, I'm terrified I might lose it. I'm running out of time, and no closer to having the money for her surgery than when she got admitted a month ago. Between paying for her dialysis and hospital bills, rent, and all the costs for an apartment I'm barely in except to sleep, I'm drowning.
I press the button for the elevator, finally letting my shoulders slump as I wait for it to arrive. It feels like the weight of the world is on them, but I know I cannot afford to succumb. My sister's life literally depends on it. A ding sounds moments before the elevator doors open. I step inside, letting my head fall back to the wall.
It jerks back up though when a man, just barely, slides through the narrow space between the doors. I watch him with wide eyes as he stumbles into the elevator, wondering why the hell he just risked half his body getting caught in the doors to get into this car. The doors are open again now, but my eyes are stuck to the man, and as I take him in, my mind quickly shifts from trying to figure out if he has a death wish to noticing how damn sexy he is.
At least 6'6, jet black hair that's cut on the sides, and longer in the middle. Some of it falls over his eyes until he brings his hand up to brush it back as he finally lifts his head. Full lips that turnup a little at the corners, as if they're in a perpetual smirk, a beard that covers his chin and cheeks. The lines of it along his cheeks are precise, perfect, just like the rest of his face. I see his Adam's apple move with a swallow and my eyes shoot to his. And good lord, those eyes. Light grey, intense, and staring right back at me.
