Page 20 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 3

He nodded but didn’t speak.

“Okay, then. What you have to do now, in this moment, is make your peace with her, then talk to the agency about fulfilling her wishes. That’s it.” I wiped away the tears falling down his cheeks.

“I can’t.” He shuddered.

“Baby, you can,” I breathed, emotion coating every word as though ripped from my heart.

He shook his head. “No. No. Please…God…” He looked up at the ceiling, bargaining with his deity.

I, too, was mentally making deals with the goddesses for a safe transcendence for Ellen, for the healthy outcome of the other people in need of her organs, and for TJ and Emil.

“God can’t make this decision for you, Jack. You have to. Ellen is a donor; she wanted to save lives. Which means you have to do what you promised when you signed that document confirming her wishes,” I encouraged, trying my best to be the tiniest bit uplifting.

“She would want to save anyone she could,” he agreed and wept.

“Okay, then we should see her and speak to the agency about starting the process.”

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine. “I don’t want to say goodbye. She’s one of the few people I have.”

I threaded my fingers through his hair. “I know. And you won’t be alone. You have me. You have TJ. Erik and Savannah are on their way.”

For a long few minutes, we stayed that way, forehead to forehead. Eventually he paired his breathing with mine, the trembling and tears slowed, and Jack finally sat up to full height. He looked ravaged by his grief, but he firmed his chin, inhaled a sharp breath, and nodded, a determined glint to his eyes.

“Get the doctor,” he instructed. “I want to see Ellen.”

I scrambled up, pecked him on the lips, then dashed to the nurses station.

“Is he ready?” The doctor looked almost as harried and broken as Jack. Cases like these had to take their toll. I couldn’t imagine having to tell a person that your family member wasn’t going to make it, but also expressing the need for their precious organs—talk about a mindfuck of epic proportions.

“Yes, he’d like to see her.”

The doctor nodded grimly. “I can take you now.”

I turned around to ask Emil to take care of TJ just a bit longer and found that an older woman was holding the small child while an older man was hugging Jack. Emil was gone.

The doctor followed me to the small group. Jack pulled back and gestured with his chin. “This is Henrik Johansen and that’s Irene. These are Erik’s parents.”

“Hi, I’m Summer, Jack’s fiancée, I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

Irene, the older woman, smiled as she rocked TJ back and forth and hummed a song I didn’t recognize.

“Thanks for taking care of our boy here,” Henrik patted my back as I clutched Jack’s hand. “We just heard the messages yesterday. We lost cell service while vacationing in England, then had to take a bullet train from London, transferring many times to get here as there weren’t any flights available right away. I’m not surprised you beat us.”

“Jack was determined,” I said and then let out a long breath. “It’s time to, um, say goodbye.” I gestured to the doctor waiting patiently for us.

“I wish Erik was here,” Jack rasped running a shaking hand through his hair.

“Me too, son. But we’re here. We’ve got TJ. Do you want to bring him in?” Henrik said.

“I’m sorry to say I wouldn’t recommend it,” the doctor instructed. “It can be a very frightening thing to see for a small child.”

“But he won’t get another chance,” Jack whispered.

“Son, TJ’s last memories of his mother do not need to be her leaving this world,” Irene clearly stated as the voice of reason, not to mention the matriarch of this small family.

Jack nodded and clung to my hand. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered into my ear, allowing me to share in this new side of him.

“Never.” I squeezed his hand and held his gaze.

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