Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

I found out later what happened after Mom left the school that day. She went straight back to Uncle Oliver's hospital room. The moment she walked in, the pressure must have hit her. She had been so caught up arguing with me that she had forgotten to bring up the donation again.The room was thick with gloom. Grandma looked at her. "It's been this long and your kid still hasn't agreed to donate?"Mom hedged. "I think he's starting to come around. It should be soon."Grandma snorted. "Useless! You gave birth to him. He should do what you tell him. Forget a kidney. If you told him to give his life, he should hand it over without question. And you've let him drag this out for this long? If something happens to your brother because of this, that's on you."Mom lowered her head, while Uncle Oliver shot her a look and said nothing. His wife, my Aunt Jolene, dabbed at her tears."Lorraine, I'm not trying to make this harder on you, but he's your own brother. Even if you won't do it for

Uncle Oliver turned to Mom. "Lorraine, what's going on? Is that kid still refusing? Is that why it took you so long?"Still, nobody answered.The panic was starting to set in."Mom, Lorraine, what happened? Just tell me!"He looked between the two of them, at their heavy expressions, and his heart sank."Don't tell me he gave you the runaround again and you just came back without making him sign?"Grandma let out a long breath. "Oliver, listen to me. The surgery... might have to be pushed back a little."Uncle Oliver's voice cracked into something close to a scream. "What do you mean, pushed back? My kidneys are failing. My body can't wait! What did that brat say? I'm lying here like this, and you're still going easy on him?"No. You can't do this to me. Get back out there and find him. I don't care if you have to hold a knife to his throat. Make him sign. I need this surgery next week! Next week!"Grandma's heart ached watching him fall apart. "Oliver, calm down. Your body ca

After the fight, Mom walked out and found me standing in the hallway. She looked embarrassed for a second, then recovered. "Cody, don't take this the wrong way, but your health problems are your own issue. You've always been sickly. When you were little and we went to Grandma's, he was perfectly fine while you got sick. Both of you are only a few months apart."It was actually your uncle who noticed something was wrong and rushed you to the hospital in the middle of the holidays. You barely made it. Your uncle saved your life once. You can't hold a grudge against him over everything."I tugged at the corner of my mouth. It was the best I could manage."Troy and I are the same age, so you question why he's hardy while I'm weak. But you left out how everyone was fussing over him then. They gave him fresh bedding, checked on him constantly, and made sure he was warm enough."Nobody looked after me. I slept in whatever sheets had been sitting in that closet for years, in the room wit

I stood there for a moment, stunned, but I accepted it quickly enough.It was not surprising that Mom would go along with a plan like this. In the original storyline, she had not dragged me to an unlicensed clinic, but she had still let me donate at that age, and my life had still been destroyed.Was she really so naive that she did not understand the risks of donating a kidney?She almost certainly did. She had simply been forced to choose between being a dutiful daughter and being a mother, and she had given up on the second one. That was why she had ignored every warning sign and told me it was just a minor procedure.Plus, even if she had not known beforehand, my constant weakness and the endless medication were impossible to miss. She could see all of that with her own eyes.It just did not matter enough. Earning Grandma's approval was everything to her. My health and my future were secondary.The comments were losing their minds.[What kind of animals come up with somethin

The police arrived and had Mom and Grandma restrained within seconds.They had both frozen the instant the squad car came into view. So much for Grandma's bold claim that nobody was going to arrest her. Apparently, she understood the law better than she let on.Did they really think I would fall for their plan when the comments had shown me every detail of it?Dad and I had gone through all the trouble of moving out. There was no way I would have wandered around carelessly enough for them to track me down by accident. I had gone for that walk, made myself easy to follow, and led them into this alley on purpose.The moment I turned into the alley, I quietly dialed a friend. We had worked it out beforehand. When I called, she was to pick up immediately and say nothing.The second I said, "What are you doing?" in a frightened voice, she would call the police. I had already given her the address, and on top of that, my phone's location could be traced.The officers were there within