Chapter One
“Are you sure you don’t want to give it another week?”
Valarie closed the refrigerator door with her hip and deposited an apple into a brown paper bag.
“I’m fine,” I said, lacing up my shoe as I sat in the living room. “The doctors said I’m good to go. It’s been three months, Val.” More like three months, six days, and twenty-two hours, but I wasn’t counting. Not really.
As much as I adored Val, there was only so much I could do to keep myself from going insane. I’d honestly worn out my welcome ages ago.
“You just like having me around because I do your laundry,” I teased, pushing off the sofa so I could join her in the kitchen. She closed the paper bag and set it aside before I could see what was in it. “Please tell me there’s some kind of meat in there.”
“Turkey,” she said, handing the bag over to me. Something resembling a growl passed through my lips and she bopped me on the nose. “Is that how you thank your amazing sister?”
“You’re right,” I said, kissing her on the cheek, “I should do way worse than that.”
“Oh? How so?” She smiled sweetly in my direction, giving me the same look Mom used on me whenever she caught my bluff.
I shrugged, then rummaged in the living room closet for my coat. “I’ll think of something.”
“It’d better be good,” she called after me. “I don’t want to get my hopes up for nothing.” Her smile only lasted so long.
Deep creases marred her forehead, her eyes full of concern.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said, leaving my bagged lunch on the end table so I could put on my coat.
I zipped it all the way up and offered Val a half-smile. She really was too good for me. Not just after the surgery but my entire life. We had the same blood type, so whenever I needed
a transfusion or something else to help me along, she was right there in the bed beside my own. It was a terrible life for a kid, but Val never complained.
And now, after decades of doctors, hospitals, and surgeries, it was finally over. I had a heart that actually worked and had more energy than I knew what to do with. In fact, Val had to slow me down a few times because all I wanted to do was run.
Run, jump, climb, swim, you name it and I wanted to do it.
Instead, she made me relax at home and promise to keep my mind on shows or video games.
“No excessive exercise, remember?” she’d said not so long ago when she caught me using the weight room in the lower level of her apartment complex.
Back then, she’d used her usual excuse about doctors’
orders, but seeing as they’d cleared me to go back to work…
“Everything will be fine,” I assured her, taking Val’s hands in mine when she dropped her gaze. Her long brown hair slipped over her shoulder, hiding her face from view. “You know I take my health as seriously as you do. I’ve never felt this good, so forgive me if I’m a little excited.”
Her puppy-dog eyes were almost enough to break my heart. Fortunately, my heart was brand-spanking new, so the chances of it breaking were rather slim.
“I need to work late tonight,” she said, managing to meet my gaze, her hazel eyes glazed over with tears. “Call me as soon as you get in, okay?” That time the tears made it into her voice. She really was my little worrier.
Closing the distance between us, I pressed her forehead to mine, forcing back tears of my own. “After today, all of this worrying will have been for nothing. We’ll both come home, crash on the couch, and watch cheesy movies while eating those veggie chips you like.”
That got a smile out of her! Once we separated, I fixed my coat and scrubs, then headed back toward the door.
“You’ll call me if you need anything, right?” It was the one stipulation she’d put into place the moment the doctors cleared
me to go back to work.