Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Nadia stepped aside and gave her parents a moment with Rafe. Her parents sobbed at the sight of their son-in-law. Warren and Rafe, along with Reuben, were golfing buddies and had traveled to Georgia to attend the Masters last year. This year, the plan was for everyone to take a cruise, and while the guys golfed on some tropical island, the women would shop. Lorraine had arranged for Hazel’s younger sister to come so there would be a babysitter for Nadia’s two girls and her sister’s two boys.
“How are Cleo and Otto?” Lorraine asked.
“Otto’s okay, but Cleo . . .” Nadia took a deep breath and shook her head. “Rafe’s organs are viable for donation. His heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver, and the doctor said something about tissue.” Nadia wiped her hand across her face. “Cleo doesn’t want him cut open and says it’s her choice as his mother, but I’m his wife, and it’s my decision. Yet I don’t know what to do. Like, this shouldn’t be my husband lying there.”
Nadia cried. Her mom came to her and pulled her into her arms. “We were supposed to grow old together, and now he won’t watch our girls graduate or get married. They probably won’t even remember him in ten or fifteen years. And I know I’m going to forget the way his laugh sounds or his voice, the way he smells. Even now, I try to hear his voice in my head, and I can’t. It’s fuzzy and garbled, like he’s underwater.”
“Once the shock wears off, everything you love about him will be fresh in your mind.”
Nadia didn’t believe her mother.
“I don’t know what he would want. We never talked about this or what songs would play at our funerals. He’s only forty! He’s not supposed to be dead, Mom.” Nadia looked at her mom and began crying again. “Look at my husband.” She pointed at Rafe’s body. “He can’t even hold me one last time.”
Warren came over and wrapped his arms around Nadia, while Lorraine stepped away to dry her eyes. She excused herself from the room, leaving them alone.
“It’s not fair, sweetheart.”
“All he wanted to do was run, Daddy. And now look at him. He’s gone. I’ve lost my husband, and my girls have lost their father. How is this fair?”
“It’s not,” Warren said. “It was an accident, honey. Rafe saved a woman.”
But not himself.
He saved a woman.
“Are you saying I should donate his organs?”
Warren led his daughter to some chairs, and they sat. He held her hand in his. “I think Rafe would want to help people, as long as they’re people that are going to use the gift of life to their advantage.”
“Otto said the same thing. He told the doctors he didn’t want someone who’s mistreated their body to get a second chance over someone who can’t help but need a transplant or whatever.”
“If you decide to do this, will Cleo be a problem?”
Nadia shrugged. “I don’t know. She lost her son. Her pride and joy. She may not be thinking clearly. Hell, I’m not thinking clearly. Last night I asked the nurse if I could take him home because I think he’d want to die there, where he’s comfortable, but he doesn’t know. He’s not even alive right now. The machine is breathing for him until I give them the okay to unplug him.”
“Is there a chance—”
Nadia shook her head. “I had thought the same thing. I honestly expected a miracle once he heard my voice. The doctors showed me an x-ray or whatever it was of where he sustained most of the trauma.” Nadia covered her face with her hands. “He’s just gone, Daddy.”
Warren sniffled and rested his head on his daughter’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, baby girl.”
“It’s just not fair. We weren’t done living. He wasn’t done being a father.”
“No, he definitely wasn’t,” her dad said. “Whatever you and the girls need from me, I’ll be there.”
The knock on the door had Nadia and Warren sitting upright. The nurse, Geri, stepped in and smiled softly. She had taken Rafe as her patient during her shift, even though doing so wasn’t normal. Staff rotated patients to avoid getting too close to them.
“Hi, Nadia,” Geri said when she entered. She went over and checked the machines, which Nadia imagined hadn’t changed. She had studied the monitors for a long time, and every line held steady.
“Any signs of a miracle heading our way?” Warren gave a little chuckle at the end of his question, hoping to lighten the mood. Nadia squeezed his hand in appreciation. She would need laughter, love, and whatever else her friends and family could provide her moving forward.
Geri smiled grimly. “Each time I come in, I wish I could give you a little hope.” She shook her head slightly and sighed. “As is, I’m the bearer of bad news. Rafe’s sister and her children are in the waiting room and want some private time with him.”