Page 147 of Counting On You

Wife.

Chase’s wife.

She’s Kade’s sister-in-law.

Suddenly everything he told me comes back.

I’m so happy I almost laugh as I remember everything Kade told me about his family. The adoption. Losing his parents. His brother marrying the one woman whose family ruined the Wrights. Kade’s struggle to accept her.

“We finally get to meet the woman who’s changed him,” Laurie says, offering me the kind of smile that makes me like her instantly.

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Ready?” Chase asks.

I sense a certain impatience about him, so I nod and let him lead the way.

The hospital cafeteriais a busy place. Chase chooses a relatively private table near the back and disappears to get us drinks. Laurie and I have barely settled into our seats when the blaring sound of an EMS vehicle carries over from outside. I imagine one bringing Kade in, the people inside fighting for his life. The thought is too grim to pursue, not least because the fight isn’t over. I only glimpsed him for a second, but the bruises on his face were hard to miss. And there’s also the fact that he hasn’t woken up yet. That’s all Sylvie could tell me about his condition. This is my chance to find out more.

Chase returns with our drinks and places a cup of hot coffee in front of me. I whisper a ‘thank you’ and wrap my hands around the cup, letting the warmth seep into me as I consider how to start the conversation.

There are too many thoughts, too many emotions. Too much fear to put into words. I want to find out as much as I can and yet I can’t bring myself to ask.

Luckily, I don’t have to.

“The doctors tried everything,” Chase says slowly. “In the end we’ve decided that an artificial coma might be our best option to give his body time to heal.”

I bury my hands in my face. “How did this happen? I know it was an accident but—”

“The car was on the way to the airport when a van crashed into it,” Chase says. “The driver didn’t make it.”

In spite of the heat, my body begins to shake again as I prepare to ask the one question that’s been keeping me awake at night. “Has he opened his eyes yet?”

He must have.

Silence.

As I look up, I instantly know the answer and a dull ache forms in my chest. The prognosis is poor then. His chances are slim.

Chase shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Victoria.”

I take a deep breath to compose myself, but the glimmer of hope in me dies with every second that passes.

“What did the doctors say, exactly?” I whisper.

“That he needs a kidney transplant. And even then he might not make it,” Laurie says softly. “Time will tell but—”

She breaks off, leaving the rest unspoken. She doesn’t have to spell out the obvious. I’m a nurse. I’m familiar with the statistics.

Time?

There isn’t much of that.

Maybe three weeks. Maybe a little more. But the more time passes, the smaller the chance that Kade will make a full recovery.

A tear rolls down my cheek. I wipe at it angrily.

“There has to be something they can do,” I say even though I know better. “How can I help? What can I do? You said something about a transplant. I’d be happy to test whether I’m a match.”

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