Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
JACK
I felt completely different, which was so cheesy to admit, but I did. I felt like a totally changed person.
I stood next to Jason at the Riser banquet with a slight grin, just buzzing with energy. I was hungry for more of this “God” stuff. More worship music, church, Bible stories—all of it. I wanted to know everything, and I really wanted to share my news with Hannah.
I’d tried to call her again, but the phone had gone to voicemail right away. She must have turned it off. She was probably mad at me, which was totally understandable. She had thrown herself out there, told me she cared about me, kissed me even. And I’d shut the door in her face.
After this event, I’d try to hunt down her mother’s number or call the restaurant.
My phone rang with a Willow Harbor area code number I didn’t recognize. “I’m so sorry. I have to take this,” I told the two men who were pitching Jason and me an idea for our company. “It’s urgent,” I said before I left the room.
If it was Hannah, then it was important and urgent.
“This is Jack,” I said, waiting to hear her voice.
“Jack…this is Claire, Hannah’s mom.” Her voice was hollow and filled with grief.
I sat down right where I stood as a foreboding feeling came over me. “What’s wrong?” My hand started to shake as all of the earlier excitement I’d had vanished in an instant.
“Jack, Hannah’s been in an accident. She was coming to see you in Seattle and…a semi-truck crossed the middle lane and…” A sob ripped from her throat, and my heart protested her words.
No. No. No. She was coming to see me?
“Is she okay?” I asked, feeling a frantic need to see her come over me.
“I…They don’t know. She’s in the ICU in Boise, and I know you’re not a believer, but…”
“I am a believer. I believe now,” I told her.
“Well, good.” She sounded relieved. “Because when I prayed just now about what to do, I heard your name. Three times. I don’t know how you can help, but God certainly wants you here.”
“I’m coming,” I assured her.
She thanked me and hung up.
I stood, running to my car, not bothering to tell Jason I was leaving. I wouldn’t waste a single second getting to Hannah.
I called my private pilot and told him I’d pay him whatever amount he wanted to meet me at the airport and get me to Boise immediately.
Then I called Chloe and told her what had happened.
“Oh, Jack. No.”
“Can you book me a hotel in Boise near the hospital?” I asked her.
“Of course. But, Jack, you’ll need to get this trip approved by Cedric, especially if you’re going to be staying in Boise awhile.”
Dang it. She was right. “Call him. Tell him the situation, but I’m going either way.”
“Jack,” she warned. “You’ve worked so hard for your freedom. You could be found in violation of your probation if you just leave the state without permission.”
She had no idea what freedom was. Not now. I had true freedom in Christ. True peace in my soul. Had I known all of this sooner, I would have become Christian years ago.
“Chloe, I’m going. Get it approved, or don’t. I don’t care.”
She sighed. “You’re prematurely aging me.”
“Chloe, she’s in the ICU,” I begged, my voice cracking.
“Okay, I’ll figure it out,” she promised.
Thirty minutes later, my pilot rolled up to the private strip in a Seattle Kraken jersey. I’d probably just pulled him from a game.
Chloe was on speakerphone and wired him the money to fly me.
His eyebrows hit his hairline when the wire went through. In the end, he’d asked for half a million dollars for a few-hour flight and to remain in Boise for the week in case I needed to airlift Hannah to Seattle. I had no idea what I’d be walking into there. That amount of money might seem crazy to most people, but anything that brought me to Hannah as soon as possible was priceless to me.
As I stepped on the plane, Molly was already inside, wiping down the seats and getting everything ready.
“Jack, Cedric hasn’t called back yet,” Chloe warned as I was about to get on a flight to cross state lines.
I shrugged. “My fate is in God’s hands now, Chloe. I’ll call you tomorrow with news on Hannah.”
“Okay, Jack. Okay.”
There was an ominous feeling in the air that I hated. As the plane lifted off, I bowed my head and prayed for the first time in years.
God, heal her fully and I’ll follow You for the rest of my life.
I didn’t know how bad things were, but I knew that the ICU was bad. And I was just praying that my ball-of-sunshine Hannah was going to be okay. Because I had yet to tell her how madly in love with her I was. I’d broken my own rule and I couldn’t have been happier about it.
When I got to the hospital, Hannah’s mom and Jules were sitting in the waiting room, holding hands. The moment Hannah’s mom saw me, she ran to me and pulled me into a hug I felt in my soul. I hadn’t been hugged like this in forever. And just like when she’d hugged me last night, it reminded me of the hugs my mother used to give me. They were all encompassing and tight and filled with love. When she pulled back, we were both teary.
Jules walked up and introduced herself to me. She looked shaken, pale, and wide-eyed in shock.
“I was on the phone with her when it happened,” she told me.
Claire rubbed Jules’s back as tears brimmed in her eyes. “Why don’t you go get a hotel room for the night and get some rest, honey?”
Jules looked lost. “What hotel? Where?”
I pulled out Chloe’s card and handed it to her. “Call my assistant. She’ll get us all hotel rooms. And I have my private jet on standby if you need to get back to Willow Harbor or if Hannah needs to be transported anywhere.”
Tears streamed freely down Jules’s cheeks as she nodded and clutched the card in her hand. “Thank you.”
She hugged Claire and then left, shuffling out of the hospital like a zombie.
“How is Hannah?” I asked Claire when we were alone.
She just shrugged. “All they told me was that she was in surgery and then ICU. I’m waiting on someone to give me details.”
“She’s going to be okay,” I declared. “God’s got her.” There was a certainty in that. A faith I mustered from the depths of my soul. I had to believe that.
Despite the circumstances, Claire smiled. “You know God now, Jack?”
“We have recently become acquainted,” I told her, and her smile grew bigger.
“I knew it. Hannah knew it too.” She walked over to the seat where she’d been sitting and grabbed a present wrapped in green paper. It was slightly torn and crushed, but she handed it to me. “Hannah intended to give you this. The medic said it was clutched in her hands and she wouldn’t let go of it.”
I took the gift, unsure if I wanted to open it right now.
“Go on in there and open it. Might be several more hours until we get any news.” She pointed to a door that said quiet room .
It was empty inside, so I left her for a minute and entered the quiet room. When I got inside, I sat down to peel open the paper. When I did, it revealed a black, leather-bound Bible, a notepad, and a note.
Already, emotion clogged my throat. She did know. Hannah knew.
I read the letter first.
Jack,
Just in case you refuse to see me, I want to write this down. I know it’s hard to live with the mistake you made. I know you probably feel unworthy of happiness and question why it all happened in the first place. But I’m here to tell you that there is nothing you can do that God would not forgive.
In your hands is my favorite book, and I’ve highlighted some of the most beautiful passages. May you find comfort in this truth. The truth is that God is always with us and He is with you now as you read this. So talk to Him, let Him in. He can save you from all the pain and shame you must feel.
I also want you to know that I see the good in you, Jack Marrow. You may think that you do charity work to ease your guilt, but I know you do it because you like to see others happy. You’re a good man, Jack, and you’ll never be able to convince me otherwise.
Hannah with two N’s.
I broke into sobs at that last line. She’d been driving to Seattle to give me this, and now she was clinging to life. I prayed I’d be able to tell her that everything was on the menu with me when it came to her. A relationship, marriage—I wanted it all if it was with her.
God, please, I know I’m new at this, but I’m begging you. Save her. Bring her through this.
There was a knock at the door, and I looked up and saw Hannah’s mom urgently waving me outside. I wiped my face and stepped out just as a doctor wearing scrubs with bloodstains on the legs began scanning the space. When his eyes rested on Claire, he walked over. Claire slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. I’d have to be strong now for her. I’d had my breakdown, and now I needed to be strong for her.
“Is she alive?” her mother blurted out.
The doctor was in his forties with bronze skin and black hair. He wore a grim expression. “Your daughter’s vehicle was struck head-on by a semi-truck. She survived the surgery,” he said. “But she had multiple organs rupture on impact. It’s a miracle she’s alive. I have her in a medically induced coma and on dialysis.”
Claire sagged against me, going completely silent. She was in shock. A semi-truck had hit her head-on? Organs had ruptured? This was bad—really bad.
“Dialysis?” I asked, my heart in my throat as I tried to stay calm and rational.
Be strong for Claire.
The doctor nodded. “Her spleen, gallbladder, and both kidneys ruptured. I removed the dead organs and stopped the internal bleeding, but without a kidney transplant…”
He let that linger in the air.
A kidney transplant.
Claire and I locked eyes at the same time, and my heart broke even further—as if that were possible.
“Ma’am, are you her biological mother? If so, you might be a match for her,” he asked Claire.
She shook her head. “I had cancer earlier this year, so I only have one kidney.”
He frowned. “Does she have siblings that could be screened for donation?” he asked.
“She’s an only child.” Claire’s voice was on the edge of panic.
I saw the moment the doctor gave up on Hannah. His face was stoic. “I’ll put her on the transplant list. But to be honest and fully prepare you, I do not think she will make it that long.”
No. No. No.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Claire broke into sobs, clinging to me, and the doctor turned to leave.
“Wait!” I called out to him. “Could I be a match?”
His gaze flicked to the clock as if he were pressed for time. “Highly unlikely. We have to test for blood type…”
“I’m O positive,” I blurted out. Universal donor.
“And if that’s a match, then we do tissue typing, crossmatch testing for rejection odds, serology testing, and kidney function tests to make sure you don’t have an underlying disease.”
“Great, let’s do it.” I held out my arm.
Claire perked up at that, wiping her eyes, peering between me and the doctor with hope.
“The odds of a non-family member matching are one in a hundred thousand,” the doctor said.
I knew he was trying to temper our excitement, but there was a sudden knowing within me. I didn’t know how, but I just knew I was a going to be a match. Maybe this was why God had put me in Hannah’s life all along. So that I could save her life. I was sure of that right now as an incredible peace dropped into my spirit about it.
“I’m going to be that one in a hundred thousand,” I declared.
“Praise God!” Claire echoed, believing in my words.
The doctor sighed as if he were annoyed by my statement. “I’ll have my tech run the labs, but you might want to prepare…”
“Why don’t you let us know when we can see Hannah,” I told him, interrupting his negativity.
He sighed, nodded, and then left.
My phone rang then. It was Chloe, so I picked up. “Hey. I can’t talk much right now, but she’s alive. She needs a kidney transplant, though.”
“Oh, Jack.” She couldn’t help the sob that escaped her. “I just wanted to call and say Cedric hasn’t gotten back to me. I think he’s gone for the holiday.”
I didn’t care about Cedric or going back to prison for a probation violation. I only cared about Hannah.
“I gotta go. I’m getting tested to be a match for donation,” I told her.
“What?” Chloe asked in disbelief.
I didn’t need any more negativity. “I’m going to be a match, Chloe. I know it. So I might be rushed into emergency surgery and we may not talk for a few days. Just know that you’ve been more than an assistant. I love you like a sister, and if anything happens to me, you get my half of the company.”
“Jack!” she screamed. “Don’t scare me.”
“Goodbye, Chloe.” I hung up and went with the tech to be tested, but my fate and Hannah’s were in the hands of God.