It may take time and a shit ton of patience, but I’ll find the bastard. Once I do, he’ll regret the day his mother gave birth to him.
Chapter Nine
ELLIE
I SIT IN THE FAMILY WAITING room gripping the arms of the chair I’m sitting on. My knees bounce and sweat beads on my forehead. It’s been two and a half hours since they took Maisy and Judge to the operating rooms. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Even when those guys were beating the crap out of me and I was afraid they would kill me. Nothing compares to the fear you hold for your child when their life hangs in the balance.
My head snaps up when the door opens, but my shoulders droop when it’s just Declan who walks in. He has two Styrofoam cups of coffee and he hands me one before retaking his seat beside me. I
grip the cup with shaky hands and bring it to my lips, wincing when the hot liquid hits my tongue. Lowering my hands, I rest my coffee on top of my thighs.
“Crap,” I mutter when my bouncing knees cause some of the hot liquid to spill onto my hands.
Declan takes the cup from me and sets it on the table in front of us. “Stop stressing. Everything’s going to be okay,” he says, grabbing one of my clammy hands.
I look at him, unable to hide the worry I’m feeling.
“You don’t know that. You heard what the doctor said. There’s a number of things that could go wrong.”
He squeezes my hand. “That’s true, but the chances of those things happening is minimal.”
“Even the smallest of chances is too much.”
“Ellie, Maisy is strong. She’ll make it through the surgery and her body will accept Judge’s kidney. You have to stay positive or you’ll drive yourself insane with worry. Maisy needs you to be strong as well.”
His words hit home. He’s right. I need to be strong for Maisy. These next few weeks are going to be tough on her. She’s only eleven years old and she’s undergoing major surgery.
I nod and rest my head on his shoulder, beyond grateful he’s here with me. I have no idea if my parents know about Maisy’s illness. When I first told them I was pregnant, they demanded I put the baby up for adoption when they realized Judge wasn’t in the picture anymore. They’re devout Catholics and are firmly against women raising children out of wedlock. When I refused, they said they didn’t want anything to do with me or Maisy. That hurt, but over time, I got over it. What broke the fuse between my parents and me was when I came to them six weeks after Maisy was born. I had hoped if they saw her, their attitude would soften. When my mother answered the door, she didn’t even look at Maisy bundled in a blanket in my arms. Her eyes were cold and ruthless. My father appeared beside her, and when I tried introducing Maisy to them both, my father claimed he no longer had a daughter, right before he slammed the door in my face. That was the last time I saw them. Declan appeared on my doorstep a couple of weeks later when he found out how they treated me. He’s been by my side ever since.
The door whooshes open again, and I jump to my feet when Dr. Snyder walks in. He’s an elderly gentleman with a headful of white hair, and he’s been great with Maisy. He reminds me of what a grandfather would look like.
Some of the tension eases from my shoulders when he offers a smile. “I’m sure you’ve been pretty anxious.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s sit.” He gestures to the chairs Declan and I were just sitting in.
I twist my hands together as the doctor pulls a chair over and takes a seat.
“Maisy’s in recovery and she’ll be moved to her room momentarily. She’ll be out for a while, which is good, because she’ll be in pain when she wakes up, but everything went smoothly. She now has a fully functioning kidney. I decided to leave her kidneys in place. It’s one less procedure her body will need to recover from.”
“The disease in her old kidneys won’t affect the new one?” Declan asks before I can.
“No. The disease that caused the damage to her kidneys has already done its damage. Her body just couldn’t repair the damage. Her old kidneys are now just useless organs in her body. I put the new one in her lower stomach.”
“So, she’s going to be okay?”
“We won’t know for sure for several weeks, but the chances of her body rejecting the kidney are only 3 percent, which is extremely small. She’ll be on anti-rejection medications just as a precaution, but I really think everything will go well. I’ll want to see her once a week for the first month after she’s released.”
I sag back in my chair and exhale deeply. My eyes sting and I squeeze them shut for a moment. Relief has me suddenly feeling drained of energy.
I open my eyes and look back at the doctor. “When can I see her?”
“Once the nurses have her settled into her room, they’ll come and get you.”
I lick my lips and rub them together. “And Judge? How is he?”
“Mr. Beckett is just fine, minus one kidney. He’ll recover faster than Maisy will, of course, and has already been taken to his room.”