With shaking hands, she inserted the credit card into the slot, lifted the receiver and slowly, carefully, dialed the number.
As soon as it started ringing she realized she didn’t have the foggiest clue what time it was in the States. Oh God. Maybe she should hang up—
“Hello, Francesca speaking.”
“Oh! Hi. It’s, um, Jade Liang calling from Australia. Is… is…? God! Sorry.” She took a deep breath and started again. “Is this Francesca Laureano-Owens?”
“This is she.”
Francesca came across all terribly polite and distant, but Jade thought she detected a faint curiosity, too. “I’m calling about a man you used to know.”
“Oh, really?”
Her clipped tone warned if Jade didn’t explain herself quickly, Francesca would disconnect. And if that happened, Jade knew she wouldn’t have the guts to ring her again.
“His name’s Malach.”
Silence.
“Do you remember him?”
More silence. Really huge awkward elephant-sized silence.
“Well, anyway, he sure remembers you.”
“What did you say your name was?”
“Jade. Jade Liang.”
“Oh. Jade.” She repeated it with heavy emphasis. “Pretty name.”
“Thanks. I—”
“Well, good try, Jade. But I’m not buying. Chalcey put you up to this, didn’t she?”
“Who?”
“Chalcedony. My daughter.” Francesca sighed. “I wonder what I’ve done to upset her this time.”
She sounded so resigned Jade’s heart twinged. “I don’t know any Chalcey or… or… Chalcedony.” Hang on. It did sound familiar. “Uh, isn’t chalcedony a crystal?” she blurted.
“It is. And it happens to be the crystal I named my daughter for, back when I was going through a… stage.”
“Oh. Well it’s a very pretty name.”
She snorted. “Beats the heck out of Beryl.”
It took Jade a few seconds to understand the reference. “Ah, got it. Your first name is Beryl, but you go by your middle name, Francesca, right?”
“Look, Jade, I don’t know what the purpose of this call is, but—”
“I’m calling to tell you although Pieter chose me for Malach and we’ve, um, you know, bonded, I think Pieter’s made a big mistake. I’m afraid Malach and I are going to fail the Testing and Malach’s going to be returned to his crystal. I don’t think he’s going to survive another round of imprisonment in—”
“Malach’s alive?”
Her shock snaked down the phone line and sucker-punched Jade right where it hurt. Francesca still had feelings for him. Just as he did for her. If Jade hadn’t gotten in the way, they might have met up and lived happily ever after—well, except for the inconvenience of Francesca having a husband, of course.
“Yes, he’s alive but—”
“Pieter didn’t kill him?” The question was almost a shriek.
Uh oh. “No, thank God. But he might as well have. His second stint in the crystal has really screwed him up. He has nightmares and—”
“Why are you ringing me, Jade?” Cue heavy, panicked breathing, like she was struggling for control. “I’ve put that period of my life behind me. I’ve moved on, tried to forget—”
“That you chose to stay with your husband, and condemned Malach to be imprisoned in his crystal for another two decades or so, until the Crystal Guardian found another woman to take your place. Right. Got that part already.” Yeah. And Malach’s got the scars on his soul to prove it.
Jade heard Francesca’s pained gasp and hurried on before she could start up with the excuses again. “And I know you were married at the time and your husband was dying so you opted to stay with him. Malach doesn’t blame you for that. He understands.”
Not so long ago, Jade hadn’t blamed her, either. She’d thought Pieter and his goddess cruel to choose Francesca for Malach in such circumstances. But knowing Malach intimately, knowing how dreadfully he had suffered because of her decision, Jade sure was inclined to blame Francesca now. Yes, her husband had been dying but she could still have bonded with Malach. They might not have passed the Testing, but at least she could have tried.
“He was supposed to die!” she wailed. “Pieter was supposed to kill him! He wasn’t supposed to stay in the crystal and suffer!”
Jesus. “And that’s the only reason you could live with yourself? Because you thought he’d died?”
“No! Yes. I mean…. God. You must think I’m a terrible person.”
“No.” Well, yes, but deep down Jade knew she was being incredibly unfair. Jade was, after all, rooting for Malach and firmly on his side.
“I’m glad he’s alive. He didn’t deserve to die. He was a good man.”
“Is a good man,” Jade bit out. And fished Grace’s phone from her back pocket to check it for messages. Nothing. He hadn’t died under the surgeon’s knife due to unforeseen complications. He wasn’t dead. Yet.
“So, you’re really the woman Pieter’s chosen for him.”
“Yep. That’d be me.”
“You sound awfully young, Jade.”
“I’m twenty.”
“And Malach’s what? Still in his early forties? Or has he aged since then? God, please don’t tell me he’s now in his sixties.”
“He’s forty-one. He hasn’t aged since you last saw him.”
“Still. What was Pieter thinking?”
“I’m sure I have no idea.”
This conversation was not going as Jade had planned. Not that she’d really planned it out, but she sure as heck hadn’t expected to deal with a woman who didn’t know whether to be thrilled or horrified by her revelation.
“Malach didn’t fight for me once I’d made my decision,” Francesca said, interrupting Jade’s musings. “He stopped pursuing me to make it easier for me to stay with Benigno, my husband. I—we—were both convinced Pieter would kill him once he was returned to his crystal. He sacrificed himself for me and told me to forget him. So I did. Or I tried to, anyway.” She paused, her silence weighted with past decisions and consequences. “You know I married again.”
“Yes.”
“So what’s the point of ringing me up to tell me that Malach is alive? Are you so cruel that you’d torture me all over again with a choice I don’t have? I wouldn’t leave my husband even if I—”
“Even if you still loved Malach,” Jade finished for her. “Do you? Still love him, I mean?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Another pause. “Not that it matters now he’s got you.”
It mattered all right.
“And what about you, Jade? Do you love Malach?”
“It’s… complicated.”
“It always is. What Chalcedony went through with Wulf….”
Jade’s ears pricked up. “Wulf? He’s another one, right? From Malach’s troupe, I mean.”
“Yes. Wulf was in charge and Malach was his second-in-command.” She laughed, but there was an underlying bitterness in the sound that made Jade suspect all was not happy-happy joy-joy in Francesca’s world.
“Ironically, my daughter ended up bonded to Wulf. Or should I say, Wulfenite, Lord Keeper of the Shifting Sands fief. And now they devote their spare time to tracing other Crystal Warriors. They’ve been married a while now, and I have three grandchildren—not that I get to see them very often. Chalcedony and I have… issues.”
“I’m sorry.” Lame, but what else could she say? At least Francesca could talk to her daughter and her grandchildren if she really wanted to. At least her daughter still had a mother.
“Francesca, I rang you because I thought you’d want to know Malach’s undergoing a serious operation right now. He’s donating one of his kidneys to my adopted sister to save her life.”
“How typically Malach. Self-sacrificing and so noble it makes my teeth ache.”
“Yes. Well I’m sure your husband, being a dentist, will be able to fix that for you.”
<
br /> “Ouch! I guess I deserved that, didn’t I? That was very insensitive of me and I’m truly sorry, Jade. Malach’s the sort of man who wouldn’t hesitate to help someone in need and I’m glad he’s there for you and your sister. Where’s the operation being performed?”
Jade’s heart began to pound and she felt light-headed. This was it. Francesca was going to catch a plane and—
“I’d like to send something to him, if I may?”
“Uh, sure. We’re at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, but I’ll give you my address in case your letter, or whatever, arrives after he’s been discharged.” Jade gave Francesca the details, wondering whether the woman really believed that writing him a letter, or sending a gift, was going to put this issue to bed.
She’d been stupid to imagine Francesca might be so grateful to learn the man she’d fallen in love with was alive, she’d hop on a plane and fly out to see him. Realistically, Jade had to admit there’d been a high probability of no happy ending for Francesca and Malach. But she’d kind of imagined Francesca doing something drastic, like ditching her husband to take up with Malach and live happily ever after.
She should have felt awful for Malach. Instead, all she felt was a lightening of her spirit—relief, she guessed, that now he was all hers…. If everything went to plan. If he survived. If she still wanted him once Lìli’s spell wore off.
“When’s the Testing due?” Francesca surprised her by asking.
“Technically it’s only been three weeks since Malach showed up, but I think something’s out of whack because surely what he’s going through now is the Testing.”
“The operation, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“Mmm. Perhaps. Jade, I get the sense that it’s difficult for you but for Malach’s sake, please don’t fail him like I did. He deserves a life with a woman he loves. He deserves to be happy.”
“But that’s where it’s tricky. He’s still in love with you so how could he ever truly fall in love with me?” Her voice wobbled and she bit her lips to stop from tearing up.
Francesca was silent for a very long time. “Make him love you,” she finally said.
“Yeah, we’re trying our best. We had my aunt cast a spell to make us both fall in love until the Testing’s over.”
“Really? You did that for him?”
“Yeah. Sounds pretty stupid, huh?”
“Not at all. Desperate people do desperate things.”
“Yeah. And I’m pretty desperate to save him. So here’s hoping Pieter and his bloody goddess are fooled, and Malach will finally be free of the crystal. And here’s hoping if it doesn’t work, my sister doesn’t end up caught in the middle of something that’s nothing to do with her.”
“It will be all right, Jade,” Francesca soothed. “You’ll see. Have faith.”
“Yeah.” Jade wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Thanks.”
Francesca rang off, leaving Jade with that awful churning in the pit of her stomach she got when she suspected she’d just made a bad situation worse. She tried to justify what she’d done. Surely ringing Francesca had been the right thing to do. But she couldn’t help feeling she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life.
She stood clutching the phone, resting her head against the cool Perspex of the phone booth. Too late now. Francesca knew Malach was alive and the rest was up to her.
As she replaced the receiver, the chorus of The Fray’s How to Save a Life rang out.
What the—? Who was the dickhead with the warped sense of humor?
Jade had turned to locate the source when she realized the song was coming from the pocket of her jeans. It was the ringtone on Grace’s fancy mobile phone.
~~~
Chapter Fifteen
Jade had done enough research, and talked to enough specialists, to know that kidney transplantation wasn’t a walk in the park. It was a major operation. And with a live donor, there were two patients to look out for.
So far as Mei was concerned, Jade been fully versed in what to expect. The surgeon would make an incision through her pelvis, place the donor kidney inside her, and attach it to her blood vessels and bladder. As long as her non-functioning kidneys weren’t infected or causing uncontrollable high blood pressure, they’d be left in place. She’d have to take immunosuppressants for the rest of her life unless, God forbid, she suffered side-effects or developed a severe infection.
Many kidney transplantation patients went on to lead normal, active lives, but there were a host of things that could go pear-shaped. And Jade knew them all. She knew all the percentages pertaining to rejection of a kidney after transplantation by heart. She knew it could happen shortly after the operation, or gradually, over many weeks, or even months. But she refused to even consider anything other than one-hundred percent success right now. She believed that to let even one of the big-bad-nasties cross her mind was to invite it in as a very real possibility.
Mei had survived the first hurdle, and her prognosis was good. End of story. Jade had perfected the art of not dwelling on what the future might hold many years ago.
Malach, too, had come through the operation with flying colors, and given that Mei was still doped up to the eyeballs, Jade chose to hang out by his bedside. He’d been moved from Intensive Care into his room, and she wanted to be the first person he saw when he woke up.
She felt ashamed that she had no clue what might be in store for Malach now he was one kidney down, because at the time Grace had tried to explain it to her, she hadn’t taken any of it in. She didn’t even know whether his kidney donation and recovery was covered by the public healthcare system. Hopefully Pieter had made provisions—as he’d done with everything else. She’d been too busy coping with alternating bouts of pure joy and paralyzing fear that she was going to lose one or even both of them. She had, in Grace’s opinion, been a total cot-case.
But now it was time she got her shit together so she would be there for the people she loved when they needed her. The people she loved label included Malach. He’d given up a kidney for Mei and saved her life. He was Mei’s savior and Jade’s. Because before Malach, Jade’s life had been a sham. Before Malach, she’d only been pretending to live. He was everything to her….
He groaned and his eyelids fluttered.
She leaned forward to smooth his hair back from his brow. He seemed so pale and colorless, so unlike himself that she had to blink multiple times to hold back her tears.
“Francesca,” he murmured.
Her hand stilled. She was about pull back when he opened his eyes and focused on her face. He smiled. “Jade.”
Too late to beat a hasty retreat now. She’d have to nurse her hurt in the deepest recesses of her heart and pretend nothing was the matter. “Hi. How’re you feeling?”
“Like crap, as you would be saying.”
She chuckled. “Yeah. That’s what I would be saying. Want some water?”
“Please.”
She poured him a cup and held the straw to his lips. He took a couple of sips then waved it away.
“Dr. Rothwell says your operation went like a dream,” she told him. “Because your kidney was removed laparoscopically, with that little fiber-optic telescope device he told you about, you’ve only got small incisions and you’ll be out of here much quicker than you might expect. He wishes all his patients were in as good a physical condition as you.”
“’Tis strange,” he said, “to be put to sleep in such a fashion. I was afraid I might dream, as happened during my imprisonment in the crystal, but I remember nothing.”
“Probably just as well.”
“Indeed.”
“That was it, you know. We’ve succeeded and you’re free, Malach.”
He frowned. “I do not understand.”
“The Testing. We’ve passed it. You’re free.”
His eyes narrowed to slits and Jade could almost see him calculating the length of time that had passed in his head.
“It
has only been—”
“Three weeks. I know. But this has to have been the Testing, right? You put your life at risk to save Mei’s and you both survived.”
He pursed his lips, a picture of doubt.
“Where is it written in stone that it has to be four weeks?” she demanded. “Look. It’s over. You’re safe from the crystal forever. Lìli’s spell won’t be affecting us anymore and we’ll know what’s real. We’ll no longer be living a lie. We’ve beaten Pieter’s curse, Malach. You’re free. And now you can do whatever you want.” Like… leave me and go searching for the woman you really love.
The unspoken words loomed over them both.
She knew Malach was thinking about Francesca, too, when the distant, sad expression darkening his eyes cleared.
Jade’s stomach plummeted to her toes. How would he feel when he found out Francesca had remarried and wouldn’t even consider a relationship with him?
The stress she’d been under finally had its revenge and Jade’s heightened emotions burst forth with a vengeance. “Oh God, Malach!” She couldn’t bring herself to confess how she truly felt about him when he was thinking about another woman, so she opted for a lesser truth. “How can I ever thank you for what you’ve done for Mei?”
“Anyone would do the same, Jade. There is nothing to thank me for.” He reached for her, and as she leaned into him, he cupped the back of her neck and drew her down onto the bed beside him. She sobbed her heart out while he held her, releasing all the fears she harbored for Mei for so many years.
And when she’d finished crying for Mei, Jade cried for Malach. She cried for him because she’d done what she promised and found Francesca for him. She cried for him because even though Francesca still loved Malach, she’d never leave her husband.
And before she drifted off to an exhausted sleep, she even cried for herself. Because now that Lìli’s spell had ended, Jade knew she loved him with all her heart and soul. But once he contacted Francesca, if he did end up staying with Jade it’d be from a sense of obligation, nothing more. Jade would be the consolation prize, always trying to measure up to Francesca, always hoping that Malach would eventually grow to love her as much as she loved him.
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