by Kelly Oram
“I had to consent,” he said. “You’ve been out of it for a few days now.”
“Days?” I whisper in agony, knowing that something is up. “What happened to me? Where is Ethan, Dad?”
“You were in an accident,” he said gently before standing and coming to lean against my bed near my legs. His hands shake as he puts them in his pocket. He’s going cold turkey. What. The. Hell. What could have happened to make him do that when nothing else ever did?
“A semi smashed into you from behind where you were stopped, knocking you into the other lane, where a truck hit you there, too. The Jeep’s totaled. Victoria’s fine. She’s already home, in fact. Ellie’s still here, for observation for her and the baby, but I’m pretty sure she’s about ready to go home, too.”
Thank God.
“How long have I’ve been…asleep?”
“Three days. You’ve been recuperating from surgery.”
“Surgery?” I squint as my hand runs over the gauze on my chest once more. “What’s did they do to me?”
“You were one of the lucky ones, Embry.” He sighed as he turned to look out the window. “When you mark that little box on our driving license we never think that we’ll actually get to use it one day. Most people who need an organ have to wait months, years even, they said.”
An organ…
I ran my hand over my chest, applying pressure, regretting it immediately when an unpleasant zing zapped through my body.
“But not you,” he continued, “you’re meant to be here, Embry. Don’t you see that? It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“What makes sense? Dad!” I said louder, frustration breaking over me like waves on sand.
“When your heart was damaged in the wreck, they thought they’d have to find you one, to wait for one, to agonize over one, but one showed up out of thin air practically, and it was meant for you.” He nodded.
“I got a new heart?”
“You know what I always say,” he tried to grin but it was weak, “stuff that’s old to someone else is new to you.”
I got a new heart. I got a new—
No. No.
But one showed up out of thin air practically, and it was meant for you.
Your heart was damaged in the wreck, they thought they’d have to find you one, to wait for one.
I held my breath for a few seconds, gathering courage that I didn’t even possess. “Where’s Ethan, Dad?” I croaked. “Tell me.”
“Son,” he put his hand on my leg, “he…didn’t make it.”
No.
“The paramedics did everything they could, and then they brought him here and the doctors did everything they could, too. He was just…too far gone. And then you were bad off as well and you needed a heart. It was like Ethan…wanted you to have it.”
“Dad,” I growled, “don’t ever say that again.”
“Son,” he reasoned.
“No,” I shouted, feeling the pull and sharp tug in my chest but continuing anyway. “I killed him, Dad. I’m only alive because of him.”
“You didn’t kill him—”
“Why didn’t they just give him my heart instead?”
“Like I said, his body was too far gone. He was already—”
“He was going to be a father,” I heard myself say, hysterics letting loose in my insides. “He can’t be gone! He needs to be here.”
Before I knew what was happening, my father was yelling for the nurse and doctor, needles were being shoved into my arms, sleep was claiming me once more, like I hadn’t just woken up from a three-day nap, and I was drowning in guilt.
My best friend was dead.
His girlfriend, the girl I was in love with but she didn’t know it, was in the other room knowing that the father of her baby was gone forever. Probably knowing that the father of her baby’s heart was now home in my chest cavity where it didn’t belong, keeping me alive instead of Ethan.
I felt like a murderer.
And it wasn’t long before everyone would know that the hero’s heart beat in my chest now.
Coming Soon. In the meantime, enjoy all Shelly’s other books on Kindle Unlimited. Links and teasers at her site: www.shellycraneauthor.com
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
ALSO BY KELLY ORAM
NEWSLETTER
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT KELLY ORAM
SNEAK PEEK
