“Don’t say it like that.”
“You let me give you a kidney.”
Daniel frowned.
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I forced you.”
“And you both waited until after I gave you part of my body.”
My voice became quieter.
“You knew you were leaving me. She knew you were leaving me. And you both waited until after I gave you part of my body.”
Jessica folded her arms.
“He said you offered because you’re still family. Because of the kids.”
I turned toward Daniel.
“You let me believe I was saving my husband.”
“Is that what you told her?”
He looked toward the window.
That response told me everything.
I whispered, “You let me believe I was saving my husband.”
I turned away before either of them could see how violently I had begun trembling.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You were saving the father of your children too.”
Something inside me became completely still.
I turned away before either of them could see how violently I had begun trembling.
Back in my own room, I pulled the blanket over myself and stared blankly at the ceiling.
My mother arrived twenty minutes later and immediately realized something was wrong.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, one sentence kept repeating in my mind.
I don’t deserve you.
It didn’t sound like gratitude anymore.
My mother arrived twenty minutes later and immediately realized something was wrong.
She remained perfectly still until I finished explaining.
“What happened?”
I told her.
