by Len Webster
He shook his head.
“Oh,” she breathed, disappointed.
“He didn’t start. Threw the race to be with you. Sat in the back of the ambulance, too.”
“He did?” Ally’s heart clenched. He threw the national championships because of her. Tears formed as she thought about the sacrifices he made. “Is he okay? He’s not mad at me, is he?”
The exhaustion was clear on Serge’s face, the bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin colour. “No, piccola. He loves you. He do—”
“Ah, I see she’s awake,” a woman interrupted.
Ally slowly shifted her focus to the woman in a white coat with a clipboard by the door. The smile on her face was genuine and sincere. She sounded like the woman she’d heard in the darkness not too long ago.
“Hello,” Ally said, not sure exactly how to greet the woman.
“Good morning, Ally. I’m Dr Grayson. I’m the surgeon who performed your kidney transplant last week,” she stated as she entered the room and stood by Ally’s hospital bed.
Transplant?
Last week?
“What?” Ally breathed, confused.
The doctor laughed lightly. “A lot has happened in the last fortnight.”
“Two weeks?” she blurted out, jerking away from Serge and cringing at the shot of pain that started somewhere near her stomach.
“You’re going to be sore for a while. But you’re going to live a long and happy life, Ally. Of course, you’ll still be taking your medication, but the transplant was a success.” Her light brown eyes flashed with joy. As if this was her favourite news to give to her patients.
“I had a transplant? I wasn’t even on the list.”
Dr Grayson’s hand settled on Ally’s arm. “Your boyfriend was a match. During the operation, you lost a lot of blood. You should have seen him. Offered his blood over like we asked him for a pen. He’s being released tomorrow.”
My boyfriend …
“Robbie,” she whispered, tears running down her face. He gave her a kidney. She hadn’t asked for it. She would never have. But he did. “Can I see him?”
“Soon, my dear. Soon. We need to have you checked out before we let you move around too much. Your kidneys were failing more rapidly than we thought. So we had to put you in a medically induced coma until the transplant. But with the complications we were facing, we kept you induced so that your body could heal.”
“Thank you, Dr Grayson,” Ally said with the most appreciative smile she could make, hoping it met her eyes.
The doctor squeezed her arm. “You’re welcome. You have many people waiting for you. I’d like to get you looked at before they all come in. Is that okay? Then, if you can stand and you’re feeling up to it, we’ll let you visit your boyfriend.”
My boyfriend …
What the hell did he tell them?
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Great. I’ll go grab the nurse. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Dr Grayson had said before she spun around and left the room.
Ally turned her attentions back to her bodyguard. “There are a lot of people waiting for me?”
Serge nodded. “Clara flew in from Massachusetts a few days after you were admitted. Her husband couldn’t get the time off. Your brother arrived the day after they put you in intensive care. Your cousin and her daughter arrived hours after you were admitted. Adam, Stevie, Julian, Max, and Arthur were here, too. They’ve all gone to lunch with your parents and I offered to stay behind. A woman named Josie from the bakery, Mitch and Tiffany were here earlier today. Frankie’s been here every day.”
“Clara’s here?” She blinked in surprise. Ally had thought she heard her voice, but she thought she had imagined it.
“She is,” Serge said with a smile and moved his chair closer to hers.
Just as he did, something yellow in a sea of different colours caught her eye. “Is that a yellow bouquet?”
Serge shifted in his seat and reached behind to fetch it. Then he handed them over to her. Ally smiled at the bouquet of different yellow flowers and her heart squeezed at the beauty and thoughtfulness of them. She knew instantly that they were from Rob.
Ally picked up the card and handed Serge the flowers. Then she opened the card.
I love you, Allison.
We’ll have forever together, my love.
Deal?
“Deal,” she whispered as her vision blurred with her tears.
“Would you like me to call your parents? Tell them that you’re awake?” Serge asked.
Ally shook her head, letting her tears fall. “No. That’s okay. I’d rather be with you for a little bit. Let them enjoy their lunch.” Then she faced him and smiled. “I love you, Serge. Thank you for everything.”
He stood up out of his chair and then set his hands on her cheeks as he kissed the top of her head. Then he whispered, “I love you, too, piccola.”
“You guys didn’t tell him I was awake, did you?” Ally asked as she squinted at Rob’s brother, Julian, and then the rest of her visitors. They included her parents and her brother. She had more visitors, but they were all waiting outside. The small hospital room was packed and she was surprised most of them hadn’t been kicked out. It was supposed to be two at a time, but Ally knew Dr Grayson let it slide.
“Nooo,” Julian dragged out his annoyed and very fake tone.
“Good,” she said.
“Can I come in?” she heard Clara ask at the door.
Ally shifted to see one of her best friends enter the room with a smile on her face. Clara Parker was beautiful, and she was far from home.
“You’re here in Melbourne,” Ally breathed.
She nodded once she’d made it to the right side of Ally’s bed. Then she kissed her cheek. “I couldn’t stay in Massachusetts while my best friend has a kidney transplant, could I? Keira and Alex would have come, but Keira can’t fly. She’s too far along. And my husband apologises, too. He couldn’t get off work. So I hope you don’t mind that it’s just me. They all send their love and speedy recovery wishes.”
Ally reached out and held Clara’s hand. “You didn’t have to come down.”
“Yes, I did. I’m still mad that you kept it from all of us. But I understand. We’re gonna work on getting you to one hundred percent! Then you can eat all the cupcakes I plan on making you while I’m back in town.”
“Ally,” Dr Grayson said from behind the visitors who had circled Ally’s bed. It had been over two hours since her check-up. Everything seemed okay and functioning. She hadn’t rejected Rob’s kidney, and things were looking good for her. She would be healthy. She had years added to her life with the transplant.
“Yes, Dr Grayson?” Ally asked once the doctor managed to squeeze past Julian and Stevie.
The megawatt smile on her face was infectious, and Ally made one herself. “I’m going to have to ask that your visitors say goodbye for a little while. I’d like to see how you are standing before we go see that hero of yours.”
“Okay,” Ally agreed. “I’ll see you all in a bit.”
Hugs and kisses were exchanged. Her brother had apologised, but Ally had brushed him off and told him that she loved him. Everyone had left except Serge. She had asked him to stay behind. If anyone was gonna help her walk to Rob’s room, it was him.
It had taken almost twenty minutes before Ally was standing upright. Her body was still weak and the pain seemed to double while on her feet. Dr Grayson was on her right holding Ally’s IV stand while Serge was on her left.
“Small steps, Ally. We don’t want to rush you,” Dr Grayson reminded.
Ally nodded and held onto the pole as they slowly made their way out of her hospital room and down the hall towards the elevator. Unlike her, Rob was no longer in ICU and in a different wing of the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Just as they made it to the elevator, Dr Grayson’s name was paged through the loud speakers.
“Will you be okay?” Dr Grayson asked; conce
rn flashed in her brown eyes and her lips made a frown.
“I’ve got this guy. I’m sure I’ll be okay,” Ally assured.
“I’ll be back to check on you.” Her surgeon assured as she rushed towards the nurse’s desk behind them.
“Ready, piccola?” Serge asked as he led her into the open elevator.
She nodded. “Ready,” she said breathlessly.
If Robert Moors was promising forever in a deal, she’d do him one better.
It took almost ten minutes for them to make it down the hall and to Rob’s room. Serge had given her a few minutes to catch her breath before he helped her into her boyfriend’s hospital room. Rob was sat on his bed, reading a newspaper when she hobbled into the room.
Then something inside her exploded, pain rocketed through her. “Oh, shit!” she hissed.
Serge halted their movements. “Piccola?”
“I’m fine,” she wheezed.
It was at that moment that Rob glanced their way. His eyes wide in shock, he jumped off the bed and was next to her. His hands were on her arm as he held her up.
“Allison—”
“Can you help me to your bed?” she asked through the throbbing pain. It felt like it spread throughout her lower half. She wasn’t even sure where it came from.
“Sure,” he whispered.
With his help and Serge’s, it took seconds for her to be lying on Rob’s bed by the window. Sweet relief flooded her. So maybe she had rushed the whole walking business, but it didn’t matter. She was where she wanted to be.
“Piccola, I’ll give you and Rob some time alone. I’ll find you a wheelchair,” Serge said and then excused himself.
Rob?
“Did something happen between you two?” Ally asked, intrigued as Rob sat by her feet.
His eyes shone as he smiled up at her. “You’re awake.”
“And you threw away the national championship,” she pointed out. Ally placed her palms on the mattress and sat herself up properly. Then she reached out for his hand and he let her take it. His touch sparked a new form of warmth in her body. Ally pulled him closer to her.
With his free hand, Rob cupped her chin and brought her lips to his. The touch of his kiss made her heart jolt. It was short and sweet. It was a kiss laced with all his love. She loved him. All of him. He had saved her the moment she had met him.
“You had collapsed. I thought I was going to lose you,” Rob said softly once he had broken their kiss. “I’d do it again if I had to. I’d never hesitate. It’s you, my love. You matter more than rowing. You will always matter more than rowing.”
Ally couldn’t hold back her tears as she saw his. “You gave me a kidney.”
“I know. I’m gonna have a scar to prove it.” The proud grin he made met his eyes.
She covered his hand on her cheek with her own. “Why would you do it?”
Rob took a deep breath. “Why would I give you a kidney?”
“Yes.”
“I couldn’t save my mother. But you, the love of my life, I could save you. I would have done anything to make sure I did. My kidney, it’s yours. My blood, take it. Any other organ I can give you, I will. Life would be tragic and not worth living without you. Without your smile. Without your love. Without your kindness. I don’t want a life without you. I wanted to save you. Not just for me. But for everyone that loves you.” Rob cupped her face and pressed his forehead to hers. “Because you’re the woman I love and I want forever with you.”
“Deal,” she whispered. “But …”
Rob pulled back and his eyes searched hers. “But?”
She smiled to reassure him. “A few things.”
“Anything,” he breathed as he dropped his hands from her face and gave her his full attention.
Ally sucked in air through her nose to calm her unsettling nerves. “I’m sorry. I was going to tell you about my chronic kidney disease once I got back from New York. My specialist is there. That’s why I’ve been back and forth for the last year. I didn’t want to lie to you, especially when you told me about your mother’s cancer. I kept it from everyone because it was easier that way.”
“Allison, I’m not mad,” he insisted.
“But you were angry with your mother for keeping it from you.”
Rob took her hand in his. “I’m more mad that she died than anything. I learnt that people hide things to keep the people they love safe and happy. I get why you hid it, but please don’t ever hide your health from me again.”
“Deal,” she agreed. “Okay, another thing. I’m not always going to be healthy. I may never give you children. I may find out I have cancer or cardiovascular disease someday. My surgeon warned me that I might not get my sex drive back for a while. She said my boyfriend has to be patient with me.”
He chuckled when she’s emphasised that he was her boyfriend. Especially since they weren’t in a relationship … yet.
“She needed some convincing about how serious I was about giving you my kidney. But children, if you want them someday, are not impossible. We could adopt if we can’t have our own. No matter your health, I’ll be there. A common cold to hospital visits. I’ll be there. And your boyfriend had the same pep talk about sex drive, too. We’ll get there. I want you healthy and feeling better much more than I want to make love to you.”
Her cheeks burned and she shook her head at him. He had used ‘we’ and ‘us’ in his explanation. And it was beautiful. They were words she believed. She could wait around as she had for almost ten months. Or she could take her forever in her hands and never let go. She had made a deal. And she would never break it.
“Let’s clear this up. You want a forever with me? With all of my past and my health?” she asked for clarification.
Rob brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. “All of it. I love you and I want it all. Your past is my past. Your future is my future. Your present is my present. Your scars are mine. Your tears are mine. Your laughs are mine. My life is yours. All of me is yours. If I’m a sales manager for the rest of my life and you’re a CEO or don’t have any of that old life, I don’t mind. If all we have is love and each other for the rest of our lives, I’ll be the happiest man on earth.”
You have yourself a deal.
Ally blinked her tears away and carefully moved so she was off the pillows and holding his face in her hands. “Then marry me.”
“What?” he breathed. His eyes were wide. Not in fear but in wonder.
“It’s the least I could do since I have your kidney inside me.”
Rob let out a light laugh and his hands gently settled on her hips. “You’re proposing to me because I gave you a kidney?”
She laughed. Although it hurt, it was by far her favourite laugh she had ever made in her life. “I should remind you that it’s a vital organ. That and because I love you, and I don’t want you to be linked with an O’Connor.”
His face went serious. His smile faded and became a line as he stared at her.
Oh, God.
I didn’t think about the rejection that’s coming.
Ally braced herself. Sure, he loved her. But marry her? The deal that they made to be together forever didn’t really promise marriage. But that was what Ally was proposing. Her forever for them meant marriage.
“You know, when I thought about proposing … I would be the one to do it. And we wouldn’t be in a hospital bed. And you wouldn’t have an IV needle in your hand,” he confessed.
“If you want, I could get on one knee if that’s traditional enough? But I’m sticking to this. I’m asking you to marry me. Marry me, Robert Moors,” she whispered.
His nose had grazed hers before his lips softly met hers. Somewhere in between their kiss and the patient in the bed next to them coughing, did Rob softly say, “Deal.”
Three months later
“Okay,” Ally told herself.
“Breathe,” Stevie, her best friend, said next to her. “He’s got this.”
Ally nodded as she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Rob definitely had this. He had worked hard for the last three months to get himself fit to compete at the World Rowing Championships at Lake Aiguebelette, France. Instead of flying to Lyon like most of the rowers had, Rob and Ally had arrived in Paris after their trip to New York to see Dr Fuller, and driven the five hours through the beautiful countryside to Lake Aiguebelette. She had been cleared to travel two months after she had woken up from her medically induced coma. Her body had accepted the kidney Rob had donated, and she was healthier than she had ever been before.
Though she was still on medication for the rest of her life, she didn’t mind. She would never need dialysis, and she could have the life she wanted with Rob. After being at the Royal Melbourne Hospital for an extra two weeks, Ally moved to Melbourne to work with Adam when she was better. Her brother, Liam, took off for Singapore shortly after Ally had moved in with Rob. Her parents had been thrilled that she had decided to stay with Rob. They loved him and approved of him. He had, in fact, saved Ally’s life. Clara had stayed in Melbourne for a few weeks before she had returned to Boston. Because of her classes and the birth of her nephew, William Lawrence, she hadn’t been able to make it to France for Rob’s race.
“I’m going to go over there and wish him luck,” Ally announced as she left Stevie with her parents, Rob’s brother, and father.
“I bet Rob’s girlfriend wouldn’t mind a kiss,” Julian teased.
Ally flinched.
Girlfriend.
Right.
Okay.
She rolled her eyes at him and then made her way towards the docks where Rob and his coach, Daniel Haynes, were. Ally had found out that the day after she had been admitted to the hospital for kidney failure, Rob had fired his previous coach, Ralph Donoghue, and his manager, Deanna Ryan. Daniel Haynes had been a former Olympic coxless pair gold medallist and world champion. And as for his manager, that hadn’t been too hard to find. Ren Pimberly, one of Australia’s most beloved former swimming Olympic champions turned sports manager had wanted to represent Rob the moment Deanna was fired. As for Daniel and Ren, they had no problems over who Ally had been. They welcomed her and loved her for him.
