My brain was still fuzzy from the anesthesia and anti-nausea meds, so I didn’t fully understand anything he’d just said. When I didn’t answer him, he dropped to his knees. “Talk to me, little lamb,” he pleaded.
“I’m okay. Just a little out of it.” Turning my hand over in his, I interlocked our fingers.
“We’re sorry, Doe,” Jackson apologized as he and the others came over to the other side of my bed. “We were getting to know one another, and no one noticed how long we were talking until Bryant started complaining that he was hungry.”
I looked at my brothers. They, like Jenner, looked full of remorse for not keeping up with the time. I saw the regret in their eyes and the slight hunch of their shoulders. But there was just something…off. Suspicious, I glared at them. “Were you three giving Jenner a hard time? Did you fight?”
“No!” LJ exclaimed.
“We were good,” Bryant said with a pout.
“We wouldn’t do anything to upset you, baby sis,” Jackson promised. “We actually had fun getting to know one another. Jenner is a good guy. We’re happy to have him be a part of the family. Right, guys?”
“Absolutely,” LJ agreed.
“Can’t wait to call him brother.”
Bryant was definitely the weakest link of the three, and his overplay only made my suspicions grow. If I’d had the energy, I would have dug my heels in until they confessed to whatever deviousness they were up to, or had already done to poor Jenner. But I was exhausted and still out of it from the drugs.
“Maybe you boys should go get some lunch,” Mom suggested. “I can hear Bryant’s stomach from here, and I figure you have about twenty more minutes before he becomes a completely different person.”
“Yeah, we don’t want him turning feral while roaming freely among the public,” I muttered. “Babe, go with them. I know you didn’t eat breakfast this morning. You’re probably starving.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“And I don’t want you to go hungry,” I told him, pouting out my bottom lip. “Don’t make me worry about you. Go eat.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but Jackson coughed, hard and loud. Jenner clamped his lips together and stood. “Okay, baby. If it keeps you from worrying, I’ll go eat. But I won’t be gone long. Call me if you need anything.”
“What I need is for these three to be nice to you,” I grumbled, glaring up at my brothers. “I don’t know what you three are up to, but if you do anything to Jenner, no one can save you from me.”
“Noted,” LJ said with a grin as he bent to kiss my cheek. “Glad to see you being all feisty, baby sis. It tells me loud and clear that you’re fine.”
* * *
With all the fluids they were pushing into me through the IV, I had to use the bathroom fairly often. Not long after the guys left for lunch, Mom and the nurse had to help me to the bathroom again.
When I came out this time, Dr. Contreras was waiting. “It’s good to see you already up and moving around. If you can eat and drink something later this afternoon, and keep it down, I’ll release you this evening.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I muttered, easing down onto the bed. I didn’t relish the thought of having to sleep in the hospital overnight, but I’d been advised it was a possibility. Still, I would rather sleep in my own bed—or Jenner’s.
I was already exhausted just from the short walk to and from the bathroom with help. I’d been told that the fatigue was the worst of the side effects I would be feeling from the donation, and I could already tell that was one hundred percent the truth. But my bone marrow would replace itself in four to six weeks, so it wouldn’t last for too long.
The doctor did a quick post-surgery exam then took hold of my hand. My eyes grew huge when he bowed over it. “Thank you,” he rasped out, and I quickly glanced over at my parents. Dad watched him with narrowed eyes, but Mom only smiled.
“Um, you’re welcome?”
Laughing, he straightened. “Sorry, I know this isn’t typical bedside manner for a doctor, but I needed to show my appreciation. Pixie is…” He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “She’s special.”
Realization hit me. Had the doctor fallen for his patient? It would explain the new vibes Jenner had talked about sensing between the man and Pixie. But I didn’t call him out on it. Instead, I relaxed back against the pillows and smiled up at him. “I am happy to help. Pixie is very special. I may not have known her very long, but I do know that much.”
He cleared his throat. “She wants to meet you.”
“I know. I was just waiting until after the procedure.”
The doctor gave me a surprisingly sheepish look. “If you’re up to it, I have a wheelchair waiting outside and would like to take you to her room now.”
Outside Pixie’s room, Dr. Contreras paused long enough for the three of us to get geared up. Once our masks were secure, Mom knocked and then opened the door so the doctor could push me into the room.
Pixie was sitting in a reclining chair by the window, one of the crossword puzzle books open in her lap. As we were shown in, she lifted her head. “What’s this?” she asked with a frown as she slowly got to her feet.
I was still in the hospital gown, but I’d put on a pair of pajama pants underneath it. My hair was still braided and had fallen over my shoulder. I might have been wearing a mask, but Pixie immediately knew who I was.
“Doe, are you okay?” she cried in distress. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“Not exactly,” I told her as I carefully stood. It was painful to put my weight on my hips, but I gritted my teeth and took a step toward her. “Pixie, there’s something I didn’t tell you. I…” Lowering my head, I whispered, “I’m your marrow donor.”
Dr. Contreras moved with lightning-quick reflexes, making my head snap up just in time to see him catch Pixie as she began to sway. “Easy, love,” he murmured, keeping his arms locked around her, his lips pressed to the side of her turban-covered head. “I’ve got you.”
“D-did she really just say…?” Pixie’s wide gaze went from him to Mom and finally back to me. Tears filled her eyes, and she sobbed. “Doe, you…you…”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to like me. I mean…” I blinked back my own tears in vain. “I love Jenner so much, Pixie. I want you to like me, but you don’t have to if—”
“Shut up!” she cried, throwing her arms around me. “Just shut up. Of course I like you. I love you, you beautiful idiot.”
I hugged her as hard as I dared, worried I might hurt her even in my weakened state. “I love you too.”
She leaned back and gave me a mock glare. “You’re not allowed to do things like this again without telling me beforehand. You were acting weird yesterday, and I was so worried about you last night. Then Jenner said you had a doctor’s appointment this morning, and I was scared to death that something was wrong with you. My brother just found you. Don’t you dare get sick and leave him.”