Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(52)

“And he will, sweetheart. How could he not when he has you waiting for him? He’s a fighter. I may not have had the chance to be around him much, but that man will fight anyone and everything to be able to be by your side. I could see it in his face when he looked at you.”

“That’s so strange. Galen’s mother said almost the exact same thing to me yesterday.”

“She’s a smart lady then,” my mother observed. “Your father is already up and packing, so I’ll get to packing as well and see you in just a few short hours.”

“Ok, Mom,” I cried. “I love you.”

“And I love you, care bear.” We both ended the call, and before I could put my phone back in my purse another call came in. Who would be calling me that early in the morning?

“Who’s calling you now?” Jenna asked.

Looking down at the screen I didn’t recognize the number, but it looked like it may be a number from the hospital. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. “It’s the hospital,” I told her. The fear in my body had me scared to answer the call. What if it was news that Galen had taken a turn for the worse?

“Answer it, Kori,” Jenna demanded. “We need to know what’s going on.”

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button to receive the call. “Hello,” I answered hesitantly.

“Korinne?” It only took me one second to recognize the voice as being Jason Andrews.

“Good morning, Jason. Please tell me Galen’s okay,” I blurted out.

“Yes, he’s fine,” Jason responded. “But that’s not what I need to talk to you about. When will you be arriving at the hospital?”

“I’m almost there now.”

“Good, I need to see you when you get here. Do you mind coming to my office as soon as you get in?” Jason insisted.

“Of course I will. Is everything all right? Did my blood work come back?”

“It did, and that’s why I need to talk to you. I’ll see you in just a few minutes,” he said quickly before hanging up the phone. This couldn’t be good, I thought. Why was he trying to get off the phone with me so fast? His haste could only mean one thing … bad news.

“What did he want?” Jenna asked, concerned.

“I don’t know exactly, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be good,” I told her.





“Do you want me to go in there with you? I can be your moral support,” Jenna claimed. We stood outside of Jason’s door, and I was covered in sweat while my heart beat frantically. Moral support was definitely what I needed.

“I would like that,” I said, agreeing with her request.

I knocked on the door twice, and almost immediately after that we heard Jason’s voice tell us to enter. Poking my head around the door, I saw him sitting at his desk with a file in front of him. I could only assume it was mine. Jenna and I both walked in while Jason motioned to the two seats in front of his desk. “Good morning, ladies,” he said to us. I knew he was nervous by the tone in his voice, and that only spurred my nervousness on even more.

“Good morning,” Jenna and I both greeted together.

Lifting his gaze from the file, Jason clasped his hands together. “Korinne, I don’t know where to start. If this were strangers I was talking to it would be a whole hell of a lot easier, but it’s never easy when you’re personally tied to someone.”

“Just tell me what’s wrong,” I ordered desperately. “I know me and Galen are a blood match, so it can’t be that. What else could it be?”

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him, completely confused that there would be any good news to be heard. “By the haste in which you wanted me here, I didn’t think there would be any good news,” I assumed.

Jason unclasped his hands and began to fumble with the papers in the file. “I’m sorry about that, but you needed to know what was going on. So which is it, Korinne? Good or bad?”

“Give me the bad news, Jason. That way the last thing on my mind will be the good,” I mumbled wearily.

He hesitated, but looked me straight in the eye when the words came out of his mouth. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re not going to be able to give Galen one of your kidneys.”

“What?!” I screamed, standing abruptly from the chair. If I thought I couldn’t cry anymore, I was sorely mistaken. The tears that were now flowing down my face were of anger and desperation. I knew I was going to hear bad news, but I wasn’t expecting that. What if Galen got put on a waiting list and died because he didn’t get a kidney fast enough? That was something I couldn’t live with.

“Calm down, Ducky,” Jenna said. She took my hand and pulled on it to get me to sit down. Glancing down at her, she smiled reassuringly and nodded to the chair.

I huffed, aggravated as hell, because nothing seemed to be going right for me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you,” I said to Jason. “It’s just I don’t understand. I know we are a match.”

“And you are,” he agreed. “But there’s something we found in your blood that’s stopped us from being able to take your kidney.”