“Yes. Dr. Vega called me this morning. The heart became available late last night.”
My hands flew to my mouth. “Oh my… oh my God!”
Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them. Relief, fear, and hope all crashing at once.
“But… there is still a process,” he said, not sugarcoating it. “Even with him being moved up… even with certain doors being opened, this doesn’t happen overnight.”
My brows pulled together, panic trying to creep back in. “What kind of process?”
“Final cross-matching. They have to make sure Kyrin’s body won’t reject the heart immediately… that takes time. Then there’s surgical prep. Dr. Vega is assembling the best team possible, not just available, the best. And Kyrin, he needs to be stabilized. His body has to be strong enough to survive something this major.”
Each word felt heavy but not hopeless.
“How long?”
“He said three weeks… give or take.”
I let out a shaky breath, my hands coming up to cover my mouth.
Three weeks.
I let the number sit there.
Three weeks meant it was real.
Three weeks meant we were close.
Three weeks meant… he had a chance.
“I didn’t think it would be this fast,” I cried. “I thought you were just… making a call.”
“I don’t make calls I don’t intend to see through,” he clarified.
I shook my head slightly, a small, breathless laugh slipping through the tears.
“You know what’s crazy? A few months ago, three weeks would’ve felt like forever. But when you’ve been living in ‘we don’t know how long he has,’ and when every day feels like you’re just waiting on bad news…” My voice cracked. “Three weeks sounds like a blessing. At least now I gotsomethingto hold on to.”
That did it.
The tears came harder, fuller. Months of fear, exhaustion, and pressure finally spilled over.
“He’s really gonna have a chance,” I whispered, more to myself than him.
My father stepped closer. “He is, and we’re going to make sure he gets through it.”
I nodded, but it was shaky.
And then I did.
I stepped into him and wrapped my arms around him.
“Thank you,” I whimpered into his chest, my voice breaking apart. “You don’t understand. I didn’t know what I was gonna do… I didn’t know how I was gonna save him.”
My words dissolved into sobs.
His hands hovered for a second as if he was debating it, then slowly they came down. One rested against my neck, and the other pulled me in just a little closer.
“I do understand. You have no idea how much I understand.”