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Landon and I had some of the best-ever sex. There was a connection, and it was slowly becoming more than just me using him to get to my estranged sister – I actually liked the guy and didn’t want to hurt him, yet, my mouth screwed things up. Again.
“Aspen.” His voice lowered, and I cringed.
I hated it when he called me by my biological name. All it did was remind me of where I’d come from and who I’d been; a child of free-loving hippies, where education wasn’t as important as loving your neighbour. Literally.
“You’re not going to go and visit him?”
I sighed and walked through my empty apartment, slumping down onto my second-hand couch. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as Landon’s, and the red plaid couch didn’t really fit the decorating style of my space, unless thrift store chic was a trend.
“Has he asked to see me?”
The lack of an answer caused a flicker of anger to flare. “Besides, what would I say to him? I have nothing to say. Not anymore.”
“You know that’s not true.”
Which was true, sadly. There was plenty I wanted to say, but it was never going to happen.
I leaned back on the couch and angrily dropped my feet onto the coffee table, pain snaking up my left leg in a hurry. “I made the decision to live my own life, on my own terms, and he wasn’t okay with that. Called me a traitor. Me, a traitor. Then he cut me off. Without warning. He wouldn’t answer my calls and stopped meeting me, with no rhyme or reason. So I left.”
“Aspen?” His voice called out again, soothing my ruffled edges. “Come on. You know he still loves you.”
Everest always had a way to calm me, and I could picture him raising both his brows as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to give me that big brother staredown.
“Haveyouseen him?” The words lingered in the air as I finally voiced them.
I didn’t wish death on the man, quite the opposite. Plus, Ihadsaved his life years ago when I matched and he accepted one of my kidneys, so it wasn’t like I didn’t care. He was my father, after all.
After a long pause, he finally spoke. “Yes.”
I ran my hands through my hair, finger brushing the wavy ends and letting them fall over my shoulder. “I’m going to regret asking, but…”
“He’s not good. The doctors give him a few months at best, and that’s being ultra hopeful. They say without a new kidney, we’re looking at weeks. He really wants to see you. And Cedar.” There was a huff at the end.
“What about dialysis? Wasn’t that an option?” At least as far as I had been told. I hadn’t yet made it to the hospital to see him.
“He’s already on it, but he doesn’t want to stay on it forever.”
“So, he’d rather die than use it to prolong his life?”
“You don’t understand,” Everest growled under his breath.
“Enlighten me then, because, clearly, I don’t.”
Waves of emotions popped inside me, each one something different, and I couldn’t just sit idly waiting for them to dissipate, so I jumped up and paced around my place, circling the coffee table, and stopping on occasion to look out the living room window toward the ocean. Or at least where I imagined it would be. Another building blocked my view.
“He knows he’s made mistakes, and this is his way of undoing them.”
“By accepting death? That’s stupid.” I spat the last word and drops of saliva landed on the patio door.
“I didn’t say I agreed, but he knows what lies ahead. Even being on the transplant list doesn’t guarantee anything. His best bet is a blood match, and without it–” Everest inhaled sharply and didn’t say the words we both knew he meant. “Besides, it could be years before he gets a stranger’s kidney, and dialysis changes a person’s life, his quality of life.” He emphasised the last three words.
Frank had always talked about having a life worth living, and if he were confined to a dialysis machine to prolong his life, it wouldn’t be the life he wanted.
“Help him with this task, Aspen. I know you can.”
“Why can’t you find her and drop the news on her? Why is this something I need to deal with?”
“Because you live there. Someone up above thought it would be fun if you and your half-sister lived within miles of each other and didn’t even know it.”
