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“You do? Really?” His eyes pleaded, searching hers for clarity. “You’re not just sayin’ that ’cause of tomorrow? I mean, if that’s why, that’s okay—I’ll take whatever I can get—”
“Ben.” Riley held his face in her hands. “I do love you for helping Mom, but that’s not why I love you. There are so many reasons…and they all clicked in Central Park up on the rock. It’s not every day you meet someone who sees inside your heart and completely gets you, but you did.”
Ben kissed her nose and pulled her tight against him, leaving a kiss on her forehead. “You know, when I landed here, my goal was to have maximum fun—nothing serious, no commitments, just some good times while I figured things out. It was never in my plan to meet a beautiful girl and fall for her, and it definitely wasn’t in my plan to give away a liver to anyone!” He smiled. “But then you showed up out of the blue with your pink suitcase… Everything changed. I feel happy…content.”
“That makes two of us.” Riley cuddled into him, lying silent for a moment. “Hey, will you call your mom before surgery?”
The nervous knots he’d felt in his stomach earlier began to twist and pull again.
“I know the five-hour time difference makes it tricky, but you could call her now?”
Ben let out a heavy exhale. “Riley, there’s something I have to tell you.” He closed his eyes, afraid to see her reaction. “Mum doesn’t know I’m doing this.”
Riley’s jaw dropped. “What?! Why?”
He bit his bottom lip and looked at her. “We haven’t been speaking for quite some time now and…that’s my fault. She was all for me coming out here, but I haven’t picked up any acting work…she spent so much on drama school, and for what? For me to wait tables and have my bum pinched by grannies from Florida? I want to make her proud, Riles. I hate disappointing her, but that’s all I ever seem to do.”
“But if she knew about tomorrow…helping Mom—”
“Maybe.” He nodded, flipping over his phone on the floor. 6:32 A.M. Monday, September 3. In less than ten hours I’ll be gowned and on a hospital gurney, spending the night. “But just let me get through it, okay? Let’s make sure Maggie’s all right, I’m back at work, and things are back to normal. Then, I’ll tell her about it, and all about us, okay?”
“O-kay…” Her brow remained creased. “But I don’t agree with it. She’s your mom, Ben. She’d want to know. You’re risking your life—”
“I know, but please, Riley, I don’t want to argue right now. Remember what the doc said—rest and relax.”
She nodded. “Right…sorry.” She caressed his bottom lip with her finger. “I’m dreading leaving you and Mom at the hospital.”
He kissed her fingers and laced his hand in hers, holding it against his heart. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, right? Before they whisk me away?”
“Yeah.” She rested her face against his chest. “Ben, are you scared?”
“A little bit, but I want your mom to be okay…more than anything.” He caressed her cheek lovingly. “I’m a so-so actor with dyslexia who can’t get work, a pretty shit waiter, a really shit stripper—I’ve never been good at anything! But this one time I might really make a difference. I might save Maggie’s life! And knowing how close you two are, if I can do that…well, in a way, I can save you, too.”
“Aw, Ben.” Getting teary, Riley stared into his eyes. “You’re the sweetest, kindest guy I’ve ever known. I love you so much.” She placed a long, lingering kiss on his lips.
“I love you, too.” Ben smiled, playing with the puffin on her bracelet. “I’m so glad you like this.”
“Well, that’s a given, Fagan—it’s from you.” Riley sighed as her fingers ran across his stubble. “I wish they’d let me stay with you tonight at the hospital.”
“Well, you say that now, but I don’t think you want to be there for bowel prep. From what I’ve been reading, it ain’t gonna be pretty, girl! Funnily enough, Mark was bang on—I will be shitting it!”
She laughed and slapped him playfully on his chest. “Oh, way to go and break the mood, Benjamin.”
Fifty-Four
In the hospital’s pre-op area, Riley stood by her mother’s bedside, trying to stay out of the way of the nurses and the IV line inserted into a vein in Maggie’s hand.
“It’s quicker to fly to Dubai, you know. I looked that up on my phone last night.” Maggie stifled a laugh, mindful of the other patients beyond her hospital curtain. “I’m glad you dressed comfy.”
Riley tugged at her baggy NYU sweatshirt that stretched past her leggings-covered butt. “The transplant coordinator said up to twelve hours. Could be less.”
“You could grab breakfast, go see a movie or three, then come back…”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Riley held her mom’s hand and inhaled deeply, the sharp lemony scent of disinfectant from the damp, recently mopped floor waking her up. “I brought a book, and Piper and Casey will keep me company.” Her eyes strayed to the squiggly lines and blinking lights on the monitor beside the bed, tracking Maggie’s cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. “The nurse said the surgeries are happening in reverse order. The living donor usually goes in first, but they’re taking you before Ben. She said it’s something to do with your cancer?”
“Yeah, they have to do an exploratory lapa-something-or-other first to make sure it hasn’t spread. If it has, they’ll call off the transplant and Ben’s liver stays put.”
“My ears are burning…” Ben peeked around the privacy curtain, a cheeky smile on his tired face. Wearing a hospital gown, a bathrobe draped over his shoulders, and slippers, he clutched his phone in one hand and his IV pole in the other. A bag of saline swung from a hook on the pole, its rubber tubing tethered to the back of his left hand.
