Page 25 of Someone Like You
That was all Dawson needed to hear. He took a long breath and started with the hike, the beautiful day and the way London took in the views. “She told me the waterfall reminded her of time. How it kept going, tumbling over the rocks into the river below.”
Louise dabbed her fingers beneath her eyes and smiled. “That sounds like her.”
“She was always talking about time.” Larry sniffed.
“Halfway up the trail she asked about my church service that morning.” Dawson told them about John 16:33 and their conversation about having trouble in this world, and how Jesus had already overcome it.
“On the way back down the mountain, London told me she’d broken up with the guy she was dating.” Dawson smiled. He could see it all again, the sunlight in her hair, her hands on the wheel. “We were listening to music and … she asked me to play my favorite church song.”
Louise’s quiet tears fell harder now. She was hanging on every word.
From there Dawson told the whole story. How he had played Jeremy Camp’s song and how London had listened intently. “She told me she had questions. Questions she was going to ask at the ice cream shop. We were … were going to talk about faith. For the first time, really.”
This was the hardest part of the story, how London had stepped out before checking for cars, and how the pickup truck had hit her. He spared them any actual details about the accident, but he picked up with his conversation with London later, on the sidewalk.
“She told me she had asked something of God.” Dawson felt his throat tighten. He would remember those minutes with London forever. But they would never be easy to talk about. “She asked Him to give her Jesus. Like Jeremy Camp’s song.”
A small cry came from Louise and she brought her hand to her face. Sobs took over her ability to talk, but finally she managed. “That’s … why she was talking about Jesus … at the end.”
“Yes.” Dawson sat back in the chair. His heart ached,but his hope was genuine. “She’s safe, Louise.” He paused. “She’s with Jesus. I know that.”
The conversation moved from London’s final days to her first. Amidst moments of quiet, either Louise or Larry would share whatever drifted to the top of their hearts. The way London loved animals and how she felt most free dancing for a crowd. How badly London had wanted a sister and how strange it was that she had talked about having one just before taking her last breath.
An idea began to take hold of Dawson. He wasn’t sure if this was the right time, but he had to ask. “Louise, what if she really did have a sister?” He remembered the waiting room the night of the accident. “You said something Sunday night … about embryos.”
“She shouldn’t have.” Larry glanced at his wife and then at Dawson. “We weren’t supposed to say anything. Way back when it happened … that was the rule.” He sighed. “For us and for the couple who received the embryos. If that even happened.”
“We signed them over to a doctor here in Portland.” Louise’s voice was full of regret. “We let them go and never … never looked back.”
London’s strange statement had surfaced a few times in Dawson’s mind since she passed. But now he actually wanted to know. If London had a sister, shouldn’t they at least try to find her? Wouldn’t she want to know her biological family and the sister … the sister that had just died?
Not only that, but Louise still needed a kidney. Maybe … if there really was a sibling out there, a brother or a sister or both, they might be a match. What if they would jump at the chance to help their biological mother?
“It’s been nearly twenty-nine years.” Dawson paused, looking for an immediate objection. There wasn’t one. “Maybe if you just gave me the name of the doctor.”
Louise and Larry looked at each other and then at Dawson.
And in that single hesitation, Dawson knew how he’d spend his next days.
9
Dawson’s motivation was simple: Having a sibling mattered to London. Period.
The next morning Dawson made a cup of strong black coffee and set up in his home office. London’s parents had given him the name of the doctor who cared for Louise during her pregnancy. Dr. Thom Ellis.
When Dawson left, Louise had hugged him. “Be careful.” Uncertainty weighed in her tone. “If there is a sister … or siblings … they might not want to be found. Privacy was important to all of us back then.”
Dawson needed to be clear. “But it was at your request, right?”
“It was.” She had paused. “We didn’t want any surprises while London was growing up.” Her eyes found the floor for a long beat before she looked up again. “I’m afraid … we were wrong.”
Dr. Ellis had been there when Louise had been hospitalized with high blood pressure before the delivery of London. Louise nearly lost her life. It was the reason she and Larry decided not to implant the remaining three embryos. Louise delivered at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital, so Dawson started there.
According to the OHSU Hospital website, Dr. Thom Ellis still worked there. His contact information was therefor the taking.That was fast,Dawson thought. He opened a blank email on his computer and filled in the doctor’s address at the top. For a while Dawson only stared at the screen.
What was he supposed to say, and what was his reason? He couldn’t presume that a stranger would want to give Louise a kidney. But maybe … maybe the stranger would want to know that his or her biological mother was dying.
Yes, that was it!
