Page 24 of Serenity
“Faith shared some news with me, and I didn’t handleitwell.”
“News?” His gaze dropped to herbelly.
“Not that kind of news, Doc,” Faith sputtered. “I’m not pregnant. We’re very careful because I know how important it is to be safe. If the time ever comes that I’m thinking about becoming a parent, you’ll be the second person I talk toaboutit.”
“And I’ll be the first,” Iadded.
“Was the news anything that pertained to yourhealth?”
“In a way.” I looked at Faith, and she offered me a weak smile. “We found out that the kidney Faith received was from my brother. He died in a car crash, and my parents made the decision to donate hisorgans.”
“Ahh.” He nodded. “I can see how that might put strain on arelationship.”
“The upside to it is that since Declan was my identical twin, Faith has access to a spare kidney if she everneedsone.”
“Yourtwin?”
“Yes.”
Dr. Stewart smiled wide. “That’s one hell of a lucky coincidence. I can see how being in a relationship with someone who’s likely to be a perfect match could come in handy at some point in the future. I’d need to run some tests to confirm, but if your identical twin’s kidney was used for her transplant then there shouldn’t be an issue in thatregard.”
I thrust my arm out. “Do the test now. I don’t want to wait, just in case this turns out to be the worst casescenario.”
“There’s no reason for us tothink—”
“It doesn’t matter, Dr. Stewart. I want to be prepared should that day ever come.Please.”
“Okay. I’ll make the arrangements for a phlebotomist to stop by Faith’s room to do the draw. They’ll test for your blood type, baseline kidney function, clotting mechanism, along with a number of other things. We’ll also need to do tissue typing to identify your HLA antigens, plus a medical history review and physicalexamination.”
“That’s a lot,” Faith protested. “We don’t even know if there’s an actual issue with my kidney yet. Maybe we should wait until my test resultscomeback.”
“If you can get poked by needles today, then so can I.” That was all I had to say about the subject because nobody was going to talk me outofit.
I earned myself an approving smile from the doctor before he moved towards the door. “You heard the man, Faith. Let him make a grandgesture.”
He made good on his promise when we made it upstairs and someone came to take my blood less than an hour later. They’d taken more of Faith’s blood too and checked her vitals again. Once the flurry of activity was over, I plopped down onto the chair next toherbed.
“Whew. I don’t know how you do this on a regular basis. That wasintense.”
“That was nothing,” she laughed. “By the time they let me out of here, I’ll resemble a pin cushion. I swear the hospital only hiresvampires.”
“Vampires who saved your life,” Iremindedher.
“Only because of your parents and brother. I never would’ve made it without his kidney.” She rested her hand over her side, and I laid mineoverhers.
“Thank goodness the doctor who came to talk to them about organ donation was familiar with your case.” I went on to share with her the story my parents had told me about how they would only agree to donate Declan’s organs if one of his kidneys wenttoher.
“Wow.” She looked as stunned as I’d been when they explained it all. “And your mom had no idea who I was whenwemet?”
“She said it was as much of a surprise to her as it was to us. The doctor never used your name or how old you were. He didn’t even say if you were a boy or a girl, so she had no way of knowing itwasyou.”
She curled up on her side and tucked her arm under the pillow. “That’scrazy.”
“Almost as crazy as them lying to me all this time about how Declan died.” Because yeah…even with everything going on with Faith’s health, that still stung like amotherfucker.
“Shit,” she gasped. “I’m the worst girlfriend ever. I didn’t even ask you why theydidit.”
“Apparently, I was too fragile to handle thetruth.”
