Page 32 of 21 Years of Jane

“Mr. Ransom.” When his father didn’t react any differently to mine being called Mr. East, I knew Nolan wasn’t lying. “I understand where this might look bad, but I can’t let Nolan take the blame for all of the unsafe things we did. I am a big girl and had I not wanted to do any of it, then I wouldn’t have. He didn’t have to coerce me into anything. And I think that the fact that he’s been so careful with me and the fact that I can think for myself, speaks volumes of responsibility.”

“While that may be, I think the two of you should really think about this. He has no history of ever interacting with someone... in your position and I’m sure you’ve never dealt with someone as headstrong as my son can be.”

“And what ‘position’ is that, Dad?” Nolan asked, removing his arm from around my shoulders and leaning forward.

“Son, all I’m saying is that people who are generally unhealthy only become unhealthier faster over time. Is that something you think you can deal with? “

I felt that flash of heat I felt whenever Nolan was near me go through me again. But... he wasn’t pressed against me, so it finally dawned on me that it had never come from him. It had been coming from me.

And almost as if in some Shakespearean tragedy, I proved his father’s point by losing consciousness and pitching forward onto the living room floor.

Chapter Nine

I woke up a day later, with my mother, father, and Nolan hovering over me in the hospital.

“What the hell happened?” I asked groggily.

“Your femur is infected. And because you didn’t want the surgery, the infection quietly and quickly spread to your kidneys,” Mom said tearfully.

“Oh. So what does that mean?”

“ESRD,” my father said.

“What? That doesn’t make sense. That happened way too fast,” I said, shaking my head.

“Your body isn’t as strong as a healthy person's. It never has been since you got Legg–Calvé–Perthes Disease, Janey. Your body never fought the infection,” he explained.

“Oh.”

I didn’t know how I felt about my new prognosis. I mean, I wasn’t mad, and I wasn’t glad. I was just there.

“So what’s the next move?”

“Dialysis until they can find you a kidney,” Mom said.

“Can I go home?”

“Not for a few days.”

I looked over at Nolan who had said nothing so far, but looked like his world had just crashed down all around him.

“Do you want to stay here with me for a ‘few days’? You’re under no obligation of course,” I joked with a weak smile.

“This is all my fault,” he blurted out. “The infection is from when you had your accident at the aquarium. If I had just kept you in town and went to the damn zoo like I planned, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

He burst into tears as soon as he was done saying that. He put his face on my legs and was begging me to forgive him. I laid my hand on his head and looked at my dad. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and he forced a smile for my sake.

“Nolan, they’re just kidneys. This happens to millions of people each year,” I said, running my hands over his hair.

He blubbered something into my lap that I didn’t understand, and I just sighed. I didn’t feel any sicker than I had been; just ungodly warm.

“Where are Nugget and Rabbit?” I asked my parents.

“They’re with Nolan’s parents down in the waiting room. Stella took one look at you and began to cry so hard that we had to move her out of the room. Liam said he would go with her to make sure she was okay.”

I smiled. Liam was the best little brother in the world. He was always making sure that Stella and I were okay and threatening to beat up anyone who made us sad.

I still had the world’s most emotional fiancée bawling into my lap when the nurse entered the room. She worked her way around him so that he didn’t have to move. I watched her check my IV bag before switching it with a new one. I turned my head to the side when she brandished an ear thermometer. It beeped when it was done, and she wrote down the information on a clipboard with an almost imperceptible head shake.