wasn’t easy watching a perfectly healthy person go through blood work, X rays, an electrocardiogram, a renal arteriogram, and probing questions from a psychologist, all for her sake.
“My father’s getting a perverse pleasure out of this,” Jeremy told her the evening before he was to be discharged. They were sitting in a waiting area because he couldn’t stand being cooped up in his hospital room. “He thinks all this medical stuff—the needles and machines—will scare me off. But it won’t.”
She’d had dialysis that day, but already a headache was gathering behind her eyes and her skin was starting to itch. “I feel bad for you,” she told him. “You’re going through so much just for me.”
“If it were my brother who needed a kidney, they’d let me donate mine to him.”
“But it isn’t your brother.”
“Yeah. Tom’s dead. So I can’t do anythingfor him. But if he were alive, believe me, he’d be one hundred percent behind this.”
“Well, all this may be for nothing anyway.”
Jeremy clasped her hand. “No way, Jessie. The tests will show that I’m a compatible donor. I’m going through with the surgery.” He’d made up his mind to be a nonrelated donor one way or another. And he felt strongly that Dr. Witherspoon would take him in order to help Jessica.
“Not without your parents’ permission.”
“Why is it necessary to get their permission for everything? I hate being sixteen. I wish I were eighteen. Then I’d be emancipated. Then I wouldn’t have to ask them for anything.”
“They’re just worried about you. They care about you.”
“Big deal.
I
care about you.” She started to cry, and he took her into his arms. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he apologized.
“The whole thing’s upsetting, Jeremy. I feel like I have no control over anything. I’ve been accepted to Georgetown for the fall semester, but I’m afraid to make any long-term plans.”
“It’ll work out, Jessie. I promise.”
“I still can’t figure out why this is happeningto me. Have I been a bad person? Did I do something to make God mad at me?” She couldn’t stop sobbing.
“It’s just life, Jessie. Like Tom’s accident. Bad things happen, and nice people get crushed. There aren’t any answers. You just have to believe that whatever happens is under someone’s control, for some kind of purpose. If you don’t, you’ll go nuts.”
She pulled away, staring deeply into his golden brown eyes. What she saw was no immature sixteen-year-old, but an insightful, comforting friend. What she saw was love, so open and honest that it wrenched her heart. She leaned forward and kissed him. And knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jeremy Travino was going to pass at least the psychological portions of his testing with flying colors. The rest of the test results would be in the hands of God.
Chapter
10
“I f I hadn’t read the results of the antigen test with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.” Dr. Witherspoon’s voice boomed with enthusiasm.
Standing in the doctor’s office with Jessica and her parents, Jeremy couldn’t stop grinning.
“Are you saying I’ll make a good donor?”
“An amazingly good donor.”
Jeremy felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. His parents would have to reconsider his desire to donate his kidney to Jessica.
Jessica’s parents were both teary-eyed. They kept hugging Jeremy and saying “Thank you,” but he scarcely heard them. He had eyes only for Jessica. She was sitting in a large leatherchair, staring up at him in absolute amazement. He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Are you happy?”
“Numb,” she confessed. “I never dreamed …”
“I dreamed it for both of us,” he said softly. Despite the others in the room, he felt as if they were sealed off in their own private space.
He thought Jessica looked frail. She’d been steadily losing weight despite her mother’s efforts to feed her properly. Yet her hands
“My father’s getting a perverse pleasure out of this,” Jeremy told her the evening before he was to be discharged. They were sitting in a waiting area because he couldn’t stand being cooped up in his hospital room. “He thinks all this medical stuff—the needles and machines—will scare me off. But it won’t.”
She’d had dialysis that day, but already a headache was gathering behind her eyes and her skin was starting to itch. “I feel bad for you,” she told him. “You’re going through so much just for me.”
“If it were my brother who needed a kidney, they’d let me donate mine to him.”
“But it isn’t your brother.”
“Yeah. Tom’s dead. So I can’t do anythingfor him. But if he were alive, believe me, he’d be one hundred percent behind this.”
“Well, all this may be for nothing anyway.”
Jeremy clasped her hand. “No way, Jessie. The tests will show that I’m a compatible donor. I’m going through with the surgery.” He’d made up his mind to be a nonrelated donor one way or another. And he felt strongly that Dr. Witherspoon would take him in order to help Jessica.
“Not without your parents’ permission.”
“Why is it necessary to get their permission for everything? I hate being sixteen. I wish I were eighteen. Then I’d be emancipated. Then I wouldn’t have to ask them for anything.”
“They’re just worried about you. They care about you.”
“Big deal.
I
care about you.” She started to cry, and he took her into his arms. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he apologized.
“The whole thing’s upsetting, Jeremy. I feel like I have no control over anything. I’ve been accepted to Georgetown for the fall semester, but I’m afraid to make any long-term plans.”
“It’ll work out, Jessie. I promise.”
“I still can’t figure out why this is happeningto me. Have I been a bad person? Did I do something to make God mad at me?” She couldn’t stop sobbing.
“It’s just life, Jessie. Like Tom’s accident. Bad things happen, and nice people get crushed. There aren’t any answers. You just have to believe that whatever happens is under someone’s control, for some kind of purpose. If you don’t, you’ll go nuts.”
She pulled away, staring deeply into his golden brown eyes. What she saw was no immature sixteen-year-old, but an insightful, comforting friend. What she saw was love, so open and honest that it wrenched her heart. She leaned forward and kissed him. And knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jeremy Travino was going to pass at least the psychological portions of his testing with flying colors. The rest of the test results would be in the hands of God.
Chapter
10
“I f I hadn’t read the results of the antigen test with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.” Dr. Witherspoon’s voice boomed with enthusiasm.
Standing in the doctor’s office with Jessica and her parents, Jeremy couldn’t stop grinning.
“Are you saying I’ll make a good donor?”
“An amazingly good donor.”
Jeremy felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. His parents would have to reconsider his desire to donate his kidney to Jessica.
Jessica’s parents were both teary-eyed. They kept hugging Jeremy and saying “Thank you,” but he scarcely heard them. He had eyes only for Jessica. She was sitting in a large leatherchair, staring up at him in absolute amazement. He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Are you happy?”
“Numb,” she confessed. “I never dreamed …”
“I dreamed it for both of us,” he said softly. Despite the others in the room, he felt as if they were sealed off in their own private space.
He thought Jessica looked frail. She’d been steadily losing weight despite her mother’s efforts to feed her properly. Yet her hands
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