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“We wanted to tell you ourselves,” he said with a grim twist of his mouth “Yes, Nevaeh I’m sick”

“But…” I sed hard, feeling tears burning h the list of visible syht loss Jaundice I’d hurt hied him earlier, and I tried to remember exactly where my arms had been when I’d squeezed But I wasn’t a da to o into thewith you?”

He glanced at Moaze back to ust? It was right after you went back to Virginia for the fall semester”

“You said you didn’t get hurt,” I recalled aloud

He’d been a passenger in Uncle Jesse’s SUV along with otten rear-ended on their way hootten hurt froht after it happened

“The seat belt caused so so honest Your o in for tests” He sed hard and let out a strained laugh “My past caught up withcaused soe 4 liver disease I’ve had it for decades and didn’t even realize it If it weren’t for the accident, I still ht not have found out”

“What?” I didn’t understand, or maybe I just didn’t want to understand My mind couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that he was sick, let alone what disease he had But it was starting to h I really didn’t want it to Because if there was a nanosis, then that made it real

And I didn’t want it to be fucking real

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Mom finally spoke, but her voice was thick with tears “Because Daddy is getting a new liver, and he will be just fine”

I blinked at her in surprise “Do you kno long people are on those damn transplant lists?” That ets one and—”

“Uncle Shane is giving me part of his, Nev,” Daddy interrupted before I could start spouting off statistics

“Really?” I whispered and finally lost the battle against ood enough ive you part of mine, Daddy I knoe have the saenetic match”

“We’ve already had all the tests done, honey He’s a positive match”

“But maybe it would be better if I did it anyway Let ure out if it’s better if a child donates an organ for you to have a higher chance of not rejecting it than a sibling donating” I picked uprapidly

Daddy reached across the table and snatched lared atNeither are your sisters or your brother This is happening because of h that kind of pain and danger to fix thereed to accept Shane’s offer was because your ed me to”