Bradsh

s the morning fog over Miller' s Pond. Then it came rushing back: the bright lights of the operating room, the anesthesiolog

e. I could feel it in the relieved energy that buzzed just outside my

cured ou

perfume. She was dressed in a sharp, navy blue pantsuit, her hair pulled back so tightly it seemed to stretch the skin a

at the foot of my bed, her purse

ice flat. "The kidney is working perfe

ied to push myself up, but the pull on my stitches

he said.

n't the comfortable silence of two people in love. It wa

or your family," I said, trying to fill

n didn' t change.

od ran

precise, and utterly devoid of emotion. They landed i

hesia hallucination. "What are you talking about? Did yo

haking her head s

hing compared to the crushing weight suddenly pressing down on my chest.

my family will be forever grateful. We'll cover all your medical expenses,

en a severance package, not the man she was supposed to spend her life with. Not

ul. The way she' d had me tested without my knowledge.

ways the plan, wasn't it? Get t

xing on the IV drip beside my bed. "It wasn't

cking. "What could possibly have change

d the coldness in them was

ne her mother always said she should have ended up with. The one who drove a Por

e softening for the first time, but not for me. "He was so supportive, so strong

one who can buy you things? I work hard

"You gave my father a second chance at life. That's more than enou

frantic soundtrack to my world shattering. I had been a tool. A means to an end. My sacrifi

ess. The love I felt for her was curdling

at my raw throat. "You use me, you take a part

g sharp again. "You're a good man, Donny. You'll b

pe on the bedside table. "This

rned t

lled out, my

the door, he

d, the words feeling

hole in my side and the even bigger one she had just ripped through my life. The steady beep