Page 53 of Gone Before Goodbye
A waiter takes Maggie’s mother-of-pearl spoon. “Tell me about your kidney transplant.”
“Why?”
“Because it could be relevant to your medical clearance.”
“I was already cleared medically.”
“Then humor me.”
“It was for my brother,” Nadia says a little too quickly.
“How old is he?”
“Now? Thirty-one.”
“Is he your full sibling?”
“Yes.”
“What did he have?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Your brother needing a kidney transplant at age twenty-five is pretty rare,” Maggie says. “His illness is most likely something genetic.”
“So?”
“So there’s a decent chance that you, as his full sibling, especially one who was a genetic match for a transplant, might be susceptible to a similar illness.”
“I’ve been medically cleared,” Nadia says again. “The rest doesn’t matter.”
“I’m your physician. I need to know your complete medical history.”
“No, you don’t,” Nadia says, and there is a little bite in her tone. “You’re here to give me a boob job. I donated a kidney. That has nothing to do with this.”
“I’m not sure why you’re so defensive about this.”
“And I don’t know why you’re so nosy,” Nadia replies.
“This isn’t idle curiosity. If you donated a kidney to your brother,he was obviously very ill. Like I said before, since you are a genetic match—”
“Stop please.”
Nadia shuts her eyes and keeps them closed. One tear escapes and runs down her cheek. Maggie takes Nadia’s hand and leads her through the room. Men stare at them, openly looking them up and down, inspecting them, nodding their approval. Maggie doesn’t like it, but now is not the time to care or get caught up in the rich-man version of street catcalls. When they get out of the ballroom, Maggie turns left and leads Nadia to a quiet area down the hallway.
“Nadia?”
Her eyes are shut tight. “I’ve told no one.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s been six years.”
Nadia finally opens her eyes. They’re wet and red.
“It’s okay,” Maggie says again, putting a gentle hand on the girl’s arm. “I’m on your side. Always.”
“You’ll tell Oleg. Or Ivan.”
