Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(56)

I rolled my eyes at her. “I know, but I can easily rest while working on what I need to do.”

Jenna threw her hands up in the air, and being the mother hen that she was she couldn’t help but scold me. “Fine, have it your way. I’m going to fix us something to eat, and while we’re here you need to take a shower.”

“Yes, mother.” I laughed.

“With Galen not here, someone has to keep you in line,” she teased.

Jenna made her way to the kitchen while I searched for the blueprint in Galen’s office. I found it on his desk, still with the red tag around the top. I took it into the kitchen and began working on it while Jenna busied herself with the cooking. Galen and I finished the layout together, and I watched him while he drew all of the different components to each room of the cabin. I knew I could change it, and I knew Galen would love it.

The aroma of spices that came from the kitchen wafted across my nose and made my mouth water. Jenna finished up, and it wasn’t long before she brought over two plates of food and sat one down in front of me. My stomach growled and I sighed. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was or how much I missed actual food.”

“Uh, maybe it’s because you’ve barely eaten in two days? I know it’s because you’ve been sick, so I’m not going to chastise you, but crackers and peanut butter couldn’t satisfy you for long.”

“The nausea is still there, but now that I know what it’s from makes it more bearable. It doesn’t bother me as much,” I revealed to her.

Jenna took a bite of her food and looked at the blueprint beside my plate. “Blueprints aren’t my thing, so what did you do to change it?”

I slid the paper closer to her so she could see it better. I took a bite of the rosemary chicken on my plate and ended up devouring the whole thing in a matter of minutes while Jenna studied the blueprint. “Wow!” Jenna said, sounding surprised. She pushed the blueprint back over to me and smiled. “The layout looks great. I can’t wait to go stay with you guys when the cabin gets done.”

“You should see the land it’ll be on. We have our own waterfalls and everything. As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted you out there so you could paint them for me.”

“It sounds amazing. I would love to go out there and paint. Maybe it would give me some more inspiration,” she noted.

“Have you painted anything new? Any new galleries wanting your work?” I asked. “I’ve been so wrapped up in my own life that I hadn’t even thought to ask about yours.”

“I’ve had some offers. I’m still waiting on them to pan out,” Jenna informed me.

“I’m sure they will, and you know how I am. I’ll be at each and every opening you’re featured at.”

“I know, and I love you for it, Ducky,” she replied sweetly.

We ate in silence, and not long after that I passed out on the couch because I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The time must have flown by, because one minute I was sleeping and the next Jenna was shaking my shoulders. “It’s time to go,” Jenna whispered to me. “It’s been almost five hours. We need to get back to the hospital.”

“Okay,” I complied and jumped off the couch. I was wide awake and ready to go; it was time to find out the verdict of Galen’s surgery.





Chapter Twenty-Two





“Any news yet?” I asked when I came through the door to the waiting room. Brady and Elizabeth looked up to me and shook their heads. Jenna went to sit by Brady while I took a seat by Elizabeth.

“We haven’t heard anything,” Elizabeth said sadly. “I hope it’s going well in there.”

“I’m sure we’ll hear something soon,” I told her, and as soon as those words left my mouth Jason came striding in.

We all stood and walked over to him quickly. “Everything went well,” he said and smiled. Everyone jumped for joy and laughed with excitement. “There are, however, some things we need to discuss,” he began in a serious tone. “Now that Galen is out of surgery, the patient usually would stay in the hospital for about five days afterwards to help recover, but given this situation it’ll all depend on when he wakes up. Again, we don’t know when that’ll be. He’s getting ready to be moved out of intensive care, which means you can see him anytime you want.”

“Oh, thank God,” I prayed.

Jason smiled and continued to explain, “As you know, transplants are not always perfect and sometimes they don’t take. Usually if the body rejects the kidney we’ll see signs early on, but that’s not always the case. It can happen six months from now or a year. No one knows. I’m telling you this because you need to be prepared. Most kidney transplants have about a ten year survival rate. I’ve seen someone live over twenty-five years with a transplanted kidney. If failure begins to happen, he will have to go on dialysis or even have another transplant.”

“And that’s when I’ll give him mine,” I pointed out.

“Damn Korinne, you’re just dying to get rid of your kidneys aren’t you?” Brady laughed.

“Anything for my husband,” I claimed whole-heartedly.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Jason added. “But if it does, I’m sure your kidney would be perfect,” he said to me. “I’ll have Sarah, my nurse, come in here when Galen is all settled in his new room.”