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Jagger seemed like he was fighting with himself. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t have anything to give you. I can’t afford your services.”
Grandma tapped her foot anxiously. “I’ll sell the house. We can sell everything. Your life is more important, Jagger.”
“Actually, ma’am, that won’t be necessary.” Dr. Fairity stepped farther into the room. “A very generous donor has already covered whatever experiences we’d incur while treating you.”
My head spun. “Oh, my god.”
Grandma suddenly pretended she was a church lady and threw her hands up while offering up an excited shout at god. Jagger just stared blankly at Dr. Fairity, confusion on his face.
Hilary, bless her, she nearly tripped over herself in her eagerness. “Yes! Yes! He’ll do it!”
Dr. Fairity smiled knowingly at Hilary but nodded at Jagger. “It’s up to Jagger. Some of the treatments wouldn’t be comfortable, of course, and you’d have to move for a few months while we treated you. We just don’t have the facilities here to do what we need.”
Jagger remained quiet but then Cammie stepped back into the room, her eyes red and angry as she looked at my brother. “Do youwantto die?”
We were all silent as the tension built between them. Jagger glared back at her. “No, of course not!”
“Okay, then say you’ll do it.” She inched closer. “Say you’ll get the treatment and choose to live.”
He ground his teeth and glanced away. “I don’t want to spend the last of my life tied to machines.”
“And I don’t want to spend the last of your life wondering what could have been! I care about you, Jag. I know I’m not supposed to get involved, but I can’t help it. You’re special. But if you aren’t going to try, I can’t do this. I’ll quit.”
Everyone’s head swung back and forth between the two of them and we all paused while staring at Jagger, our breaths frozen as we waited. I felt like I would throw up at any second, but then my brother remembered he wasn’t a complete moron, thankfully.
“You’re not quitting. If I have to do this to keep you from ruining your career, fine.” Jagger watched Cammie’s lips stretch into a bright smile and he fought his own. “You’re going out with me, though. A real date.”
She nodded quickly. “Just as soon as you sign the papers on this treatment plan.”
Jagger groaned. “Fine. Whatever I need to do, I’ll do.”
My heart was on my sleeve and leaking down my cheeks as she rushed to Jagger’s side and pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek before hurrying away. Jagger’s cheeks were bright red and I felt like pinching them. “Awww.”
He glared at me. “Shut up, Layla.”
Dr. Fairity looked at me and smiled. “You’re Layla?”
I nodded, feeling confused. “Yeah… Why?”
“I’m not supposed to say anything, but you have some very caring men in your life. They worked hard to get us here.” She looked back at Jagger. “We won’t treat you like a lab rat, Jagger. You’ll see. We care about our research, but we care more about our patients.”
He was staring at me, his eyes wide. “The guys from JAX paid for this?”
I held up my hands. I had no idea. I realized I didn’t know what they’d been up to during the day and I wanted to rush to their side more than anything right then. I wanted to tell them what they meant to me. Life was too short not to.
46
Layla
Nickshiftedintotheroom that felt much too small for the amount of people standing inside. “If everyone would look at me, your dutiful announcer for the evening’s festivities, I’ll get this show started.”
Dr. Fairity and her group backed out of the room. “We’ll be watching from a closer view point. We’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
I frowned at Nick. “What are you talking about?”
Grandma sighed. “This whole place is going crazy today. Just go with it, girl.”
Hilary grinned brightly at me as Nick moved the chairs from in front of the window. “You’re so lucky, Layla.”
