to help.”
We talked for a little while longer, and once the call was over, I smiled. Things were looking up.
Chapter 25
Maya
One month later…
The day finally came for me to get my kidney transplant, and I was nervous and excited and overcome with gratitude. I was in a special room for surgery pre-op, and Mom and Easton waited with me. They sat on each side of me, holding my hands, whispering words of encouragement. Praying one moment. Joking another to keep my spirits up.
Charlotte would have been there if they’d allowed three people, but they’d said two visitors were a stretch, and they’d already made an exception. Easton had been instrumental in getting that exception since he was a very persuasive man.
I should know. He’d convinced me to be a part of a program that matched me with a donor. After my transplant, the plan was for Easton to donate one of his kidneys to someone else in the program. When he’d first told me about it, I’d protested. Believe me, I protested because I didn’t want him giving up his kidney because of me.
But after taking time to pray about it and think it through, Charlotte pointed out that sometimes it’s harder to receive than to give, and that was because pride held us back. Few people wanted to inconvenience someone else or come across as needy, especially if one had an independent spirit.
She was right. It was hard for me. Very difficult, in fact.
But I finally relented because I was starting to see that it was important to Easton to be a part of my recovery, and it was time to lay aside my pride. I would forever be grateful to the woman who donated her kidney to me, as well as Easton, who would be donating once they matched him with another person in the program. Without him, none of this would have happened. He truly was my hero in more ways than one.
And, of course, it all fell under the umbrella of God’s goodness. The Lord was also teaching me not to put love on the back burner because I was afraid of a shortened existence. Only he knew the minutes and hours and days left in a person’s life, and He was sovereignly in control of it all.
“We’ll be praying for you the whole time,” Mom said, squeezing my hand.
“I know you will, and I’m so thankful.”
Easton cleared his throat, and I glanced over to find him smiling. “I’m all in. You understand that, right?”
I smiled and nodded, loving that he didn’t leave me to wonder about his feelings. “If I didn’t get it by now, I’d be pretty dense.”
That got a chuckle out of him. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“I’m all in as well. We’re a team.”
He leaned in and kissed me on the check and then brought his lips close to my ear. “I have a gift for you when this is all over. After we’re both recovered from our surgeries.”
I blinked. “Can you give me a hint as to what it is?”
He glanced at my mom, and they exchanged a knowing look. “It’s just something to show how much I love you, but you’ll have to be patient and wait. I promise you’ll like it.” He winked, and my heart fluttered a thousand times over.
My Easton. The golden boy I once thought hated me. My high school bully, or so I had thought at one time. The reality had been that he’d stood up for me, but I hadn’t realized that back then, and now he wanted to make a sacrifice that few were willing to make. Just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes.
I was so happy to be in this man’s life, and whatever gift he was referring to, I was sure I would enjoy it. A part of me knew in my gut what that gift might be, but I wouldn’t allow myself to dwell on it until it happened. No need to get my hopes up unnecessarily. But still…I had a feeling what it was because Easton, the man who’d been notoriously afraid of commitment, had made it very clear that he wanted a future with me, and that was one of the things I loved about him. I didn’t have to wonder where he stood anymore.
“It’s time,” a nurse said, walking into the room with two others from the surgical team. “We’re going to wheel you into the operating room now.”
Nerves should have overtaken me at that