Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
She chuckled. “I guess romantic time is over. We’re back to our normal pervy self?”
My answer was to reach around and grab a handful of her ass. “Let’s go home. I want to fuck my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend.” She grinned. “I like the sound of it.”
“And I like the sound you’re going to be making when I get you home.”
“Is girlfriend sex different than keeping-it-casual sex?”
“Definitely.”
Her smile widened. “Do tell...”
I pulled an answer I liked out of my ass. “There’s more trust. So we can do things that require that more.”
“Like what?”
“Like sensory deprivation. I’d like to blindfold you with earplugs in and tie you up.”
Naomi swallowed. “Okay…”
“And sixty-nine with you on the bottom so I can fuck that mouth deep while my face is buried in your pussy.”
“I’m sensing a pattern here. You want control.”
“Just in the bedroom, sweetheart.”
Naomi’s cell rang. She pulled it from her pocket, checked the screen, and held up a finger. “Hold that thought. It’s my sister. She had a doctor’s appointment today. I want to make sure everything went okay.”
“Have at it.”
She swiped. “Hell—”
Naomi didn’t get to finish the word because her sister was screaming so loud I could hear her through the phone. She pulled her cell from her ear and spoke into the mouthpiece, holding the phone sideways.
“Frannie! What’s wrong?”
Her sister was babbling, but I couldn’t make out the words. Though Naomi’s face changed from freaked out to wide-eyed excitement.
“Are you serious?”
More babbling.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe it! I can’t believe they found someone!” She covered the phone and beamed. “They finally found a bone-marrow match for Frannie!”
I smiled but played dumb. “That’s awesome! When’s it going to happen?”
“Probably in about two weeks! This can cure her! Oh my God, my sister is going to be okay!”
I’d gotten tested on a whim the morning after my little chat with God. When the registry called to say I was a match, I was pretty damn shocked. After it wore off, I started to question whether I was doing the right thing, or rather whether my reasons for doing the right thing might upset Naomi. But seeing the happiness on her face erased any doubt I’d had. The reason wasn’t important—her sister was. That and putting that smile back on my girl’s face. I hoped this was the first of many times I’d get to put it there.
Naomi talked on the phone with Frannie for a few more minutes before swiping off. She was practically bouncing with a newfound energy. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy. This is the best day ever.”
I smiled. “I’m happy for your sister.”
“A boyfriend and a bone-marrow donor, all in one day. I’d say this is cause for celebration, wouldn’t you?”
“Absolutely. What do you have in mind? We can do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
I nodded. “You name it.”
She nibbled on her lip. “Those things you mentioned before sound kind of celebratory.”
And this day kept getting better, because I was about to keep that smile on her face for hours.
Chapter 31
* * *
DAWSON
Monday afternoon, Naomi took a late lunch to go with her sister to her doctor’s appointment. She came back to the office looking a little frazzled.
“Everything go okay?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “The process is just a bit overwhelming.”
“How so?”
“Well, Frannie needs to be admitted to the hospital for a week before the transplant. Her body has to undergo what they call a conditioning regimen. Basically, they load her up with high levels of chemo and radiation to destroy the diseased cells floating around in her bloodstream and stop the blood-forming cells in her bone marrow from producing to make room for the new blood cells she’ll receive. That part alone has a full-page list of potential dangers, because you’re essentially pumped full of toxins that can inadvertently attack organs.”
“Jesus.”
“Two days after the conditioning phase is complete, she’ll receive the marrow transplant from the donor.”
That timeline made sense since they’d scheduled the harvest of my cells for a week from today. I’d asked if the recipient received them the same day, and the doctor had said it was usually one to two days later.
“How long does she stay in the hospital after that?”
“Four weeks, if she doesn’t get an infection or anything that extends things.”
“Holy crap.”
She nodded. “You basically have no immune system while you wait for the donated stem cells to take root and begin producing new blood cells. There’s another full page of side effects for that part of the process. Not only that, but you have to live in very strict isolation for the first hundred days—no public spaces or crowds, and they stressed that she should have very few or preferably no visitors at all. The doctor even suggested the kids go on homeschooling or live somewhere else during that period because they bring so many germs home from the classroom every day.”