I Gave Him a Kidney, He Asked for Another

I stared at the little blue box. The velvet looked soft. It was the exact box I used to dream about. For years, I imagined how Kasen might give it to me. Now, sitting next to my plastic water cup, it just looked like a trap.

Kasen stood there, waiting. His tailored suit was perfectly dry. His jaw was tight. He expected me to cry. He expected me to nod, to accept the crumbs he was throwing at me, and say yes.

"Selfish," I repeated. The word tasted like ash in my dry mouth.

I reached out. My arm trembled. The tape from the IV line pulled at my skin. My fingers brushed the edge of the Tiffany box.

"Careful," Kasen warned softly. "Don't drop it."

I looked up at him. "I already gave you a kidney, Kasen."

His brow furrowed. He let out a short, dismissive breath. "What are you talking about?"

"Eight years ago. When your kidneys failed. The anonymous donor." I kept my voice low. I didn't yell. I didn't have the breath for it anyway, not with my fractured ribs. "That was me."

Kasen froze. The annoyance in his eyes flickered into something else. Confusion. "Don't be ridiculous, Eden. Shelby’s mother donated that kidney. We all know that."

"Check the hospital records," I said flatly. "Look for the sealed file from New York Presbyterian. Then look at the scar on my lower back."

His face lost a fraction of its color. His hands, resting by his sides, twitched. "You're lying. You're just saying this to get out of helping Shelby. She is dying."

"I loved you," I said. It was the first time I had ever said it aloud to him. And it was in the past tense. "I loved you so much I let them cut me open for you. I walked around in pain for months. And now you want my last kidney. For the woman who just deliberately ran me over."

"Eden—"

I flicked my fingers. The blue box slid off the edge of the table. It hit the linoleum floor with a sharp clatter. The lid popped open. A heavy diamond ring spilled out, catching the harsh fluorescent light.

We both looked at it. It lay there, glittering uselessly next to Kasen’s polished leather shoe.

"We're done," I said. "Get out."

Kasen stared at the ring, then back at me. A muscle feathered in his jaw. His composure was slipping. "Eden, stop playing games. You're hurt, you're confused—"

"Get out!" I gripped the metal bedrail. The heart monitor beside me finally spiked, beeping in a rapid, panicked rhythm. "Get out of my room!"

He stepped closer instead. His eyes were dark. "I'm not leaving until you calm down and sign the papers."

The door swung wide open. Two large men in blue hospital security uniforms stepped in. A nurse trailed behind them, looking alarmed by the shouting.

"Sir, you need to step back," the taller guard said.

"I'm her fiancé," Kasen snapped. He didn't look away from me. "I'm staying right here."

"No," I said. My voice was eerily steady now. "He is a stranger. Remove him."

Kasen turned to me, his eyes wide with a sudden, raw disbelief. "Eden."

"Sir, let's go." The guards grabbed his arms.

Kasen resisted. He planted his feet. "Get your hands off me! Eden, tell them! Tell them to stop!"

I turned my head and stared at the blank white wall. I didn't blink. I listened to the scuffle of shoes, the heavy thud of Kasen being dragged backward.

"Eden!" he shouted from the hallway. His voice cracked. Then the heavy door clicked shut. Silence filled the room again.

An hour passed. The rain kept beating against the window pane. I sat upright in the bed, ignoring the stabbing pain in my side. I didn't cry. The tears simply weren't there. My chest felt hollow, like a scooped-out shell.

The door burst open.

Jayla marched in. Her wet trench coat dripped onto the floor. She held a thick leather portfolio tight against her chest. When she saw the purple bruises blooming across my cheek, she stopped dead in her tracks.

She didn't ask if I was okay. She knew I wasn't.

She walked over and pulled up a plastic chair. She sat down heavily beside my bed. She dropped the portfolio on the floor and looked at me. Her dark eyes were blazing with a terrifying anger, but her hands were gentle when she reached out.

She wrapped her warm fingers around my cold ones.

We sat there in silence. The monitor beeped its steady rhythm. I stared at the wall. I didn't need to explain the accident. The nurse who called her had already filled her in.

I squeezed her hand. "He brought a ring," I whispered.

Jayla’s jaw tightened. "Did he."

"He wanted my kidney. For Shelby. He said it was a fair trade."

A dark, dangerous shadow crossed Jayla’s face. She looked down at the floor, spotting the empty blue box Kasen had left behind. She kicked it under the bed with the heel of her leather boot.

"I told him," I said. My voice was barely a breath. "I told him about the first kidney."

Jayla snapped her head up. "Good."

I finally looked at her. My best friend. The only person who had ever truly seen me. "I'm done, Jayla."

Jayla didn't offer empty comforts. She didn't tell me it would be okay. She just held my hand tighter.

"Then we're done," she said firmly. Her voice was pure steel. "No more hiding. No more taking the high road."

She leaned in close. The smell of rain and expensive perfume clung to her.

"But first," she whispered, "we burn it down."