Until the Last Breath

“Yeah, well, it’s too fucking late for that, don’t you think, Tessa?” John growls. “Goddamnit!” A door slams shut seconds later.

“Fuck, Max,” Tessa whimpers. “I told you I wasn’t sure about this. I mean I wanted her to experience this, but look at her. I didn’t want this!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would happen. We were supposed to be on a flight home right now.”

“You better hope she pulls through.” Tessa’s voice is thick with tears. “You better pray to God or I swear I will never forgive you for this, Max. I forgave you once. I won’t do it again.”

Another door slams shut. Or maybe it’s the same door.

Monitors beep.

Darkness consumes me again.

THIRTY-TWO

MAX

I can’t sit in this waiting room for another minute. My ass is sore. My body hurts. I’ve been here for over a week now and Shannon still hasn’t woken up without crying out in pain. She’s hurting so badly and her cries are killing me. They don’t think it’ll get any better. To calm her down, they sedate her. I don’t like admitting to it, but I think this may be the end.

I look to my right, spotting Dr. Monroe rushing out of Shannon’s room and heading toward the café. It’s four in the morning and she looks exhausted. Shannon is getting worse, is what I heard her tell John while eavesdropping.

Apparently, the blackness is spreading even more on one of the lobes on her lungs, basically eating that part of it alive. No amount of OPX will help at this point. All they can hope for is a miracle.

The Hound is still in the room and I know he won’t be leaving anytime soon, so I take this opportunity to talk to Dr. Monroe myself.

John has threatened me to stay way from the room, which at first resulted in a nose-to-nose confrontation. Unfortunately, I was kicked out by the security guards. He’s lucky he has the advantage of being her husband.

Tessa told me I didn’t have to leave the hospital, but that I had to stay out of the room and respect his wishes.

I don’t mean to disrespect the guy, but she’s one of my only real friends. I’ve known her longer. I care too much about her to just leave and sit around in my hotel, waiting for a phone call that may never even happen.

Fuck that. I want to be here as soon as she opens those big brown eyes of hers again, for good this time. Because she has to. Shannon is strong. She has to pull through.

I push out of my chair, following Dr. Monroe down the hallway. When she’s inside, stopping at the coffee station, I grab a cup, pretending I’m in need of a caffeine boost too.

“Hey, Dr. Monroe,” I sigh.

She whips her head up, meeting my eyes and then forcing a smile. “Oh, hey, Max. Still hanging in there?”

“Yeah. I guess.” I force a wary smile.

She pours some coffee into her cup, then pours some into mine. “Can I help you with something, Max?” she asks.

“I wanted to ask you about Shannon. Is there no one here who can help? No donor or anything anywhere?”

She gives her head a sad shake. “None, Max. It’s going to be hard to find a healthy, matching set of lungs with her blood type.”

“But it’s just one part of her lung that’s really bothering her, right?”

“Yes, her right lung is the most infected, but for a better outcome, we’d likely do a double lung transplant, just so the mass doesn’t spread to the other lung.”

I drop my head, defeated. “Damn. I see.”

I can feel Dr. Monroe’s gaze on me. She places her cup down on the table, folding her arms across her chest. “You should go rest a little, at least until Shannon wakes up. There isn’t much you can do for her right now.”

“I don’t want to leave,” I mutter, looking away.

“Yes. I understand that, but you are exhausted, and Mr. Streeter is clearly not going to let you back into the room unless Shannon is awake. You can’t expect to sit in the waiting room forever, can you? Something tells me Shannon wouldn’t want that.”

My lips press, and I hate how much she’s right. Shannon wouldn’t be happy about it. She would tell me to pull my shit together and go clean my balls, or some silly shit like that.

“You’re right,” I whisper. “Well, do you think you can tell Tessa to call me if she wakes up. I won’t be gone long.”

“Sure thing.” She smiles, so warmly it fucking hurts. How can she be so content? I know she doesn’t know Shannon all that well, but shouldn’t this hurt her too? Knowing someone she’s caring for is about to die? Or is death just a normal occurrence for her?