Chapter 1

I stared up blankly, but I was not looking at the tense expression on Mom's face. I was looking at the text scrolling behind her. It was as if I were a character in a show who could suddenly see what the audience was typing.

[Fast-forwarding. Let's just skip ahead to after the main character is reborn.]

[Wake up, main character. What do you mean 'losing a kidney won't affect your life'? Losing your uncle is what won't affect your life.]

[What has your uncle ever done for you that your mom has the nerve to ask for a kidney?]

[Even then, it still wouldn't be enough. Unless his uncle once single-handedly stormed through enemy lines to save his life. If that were the case, then sure, go ahead and donate.]

[Please! If his uncle actually cared about him that much, he would never let the kid volunteer in the first place.]

'Losing your uncle is what won't affect your life.'

The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

Mom frowned when I did not answer. "Cody, what are you thinking about? Didn't I already tell you? You're young. A kidney is nothing to you, but for your uncle, it's life or death. I've been begging you. Can't you even do this one little thing for me?

"You're always saying your grandma doesn't love you. Your father taught you to be so petty about everything. Is it any wonder she doesn't like you?"

Mom let out a long sigh. "Fine. I'm not blaming you. Just sign the form. You're still too young to understand that family is supposed to look out for each other. Just sign it. Your uncle promised to write you a check for 50,000 dollars after the surgery. See how generous he is?"

The comments exploded.

[Don't listen to her. After the surgery, your uncle will only give you $1,000. That won't even cover your hospital stay and medication.]

[By the time you graduate, the job market is going to be brutal. And with your body wrecked from the donation, how many decent jobs do you think you're going to miss out on?]

[Don't do it. Those people are heartless. They're not worth it!]

That was all I needed to know. I set the pen down and pushed the consent form away.

"Mom, this is a big deal. I want to talk to Dad about it first."

The moment I mentioned Dad, her expression changed.

"Cody, didn't I tell you? This is our little secret. We'll tell your father after the surgery."

I blinked. "But Mom, you always told me that if something has to be kept from my parents, it's never a good thing and that I have to be extra careful."

Even before the comments appeared, something had felt slightly off. After reading them, that uneasy feeling grew sevenfold. Now, seeing Mom's reaction, every alarm in my head was going off.

Once I fully calmed down, the doubts only multiplied. There was a very real chance that everything the comments had described would actually happen.

Grandma had always favored Uncle Oliver's side of the family. Most of the money Mom sent her ended up funneled straight to Uncle Oliver. Whenever there was anything good to eat at Grandma's place, his family got first pick. I only got whatever was left after it had started to go bad.

Maybe it was true that the worse you were treated as a kid, the harder you tried to earn their approval. Uncle Oliver spoke his mind freely around Grandma without a second thought. Mom, on the other hand, treated everything Grandma said as law and never dared to push back. Dad and I had paid the price for it more times than I could count.

If donating a kidney to Uncle Oliver left me in poor health, Mom would do exactly what the comments predicted. She would not stand up for me. She would turn around and blame me instead.

The thought sent a chill down my spine. Without those comments, I would have signed that form in a daze and given up my kidney without a second thought.

Mom must have run out of patience, because she grabbed the pen and shoved it into my hand. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult? Just sign it already!"

I threw the pen aside, jumped to my feet, and bolted out of the room.