Second Handheart by Joyce Livingston

Author:Joyce Livingston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Six

Sammy’s eyes widened. Unless he was talking about his sister being cremated, which many people didn’t want for their loved ones, she had no idea what he was talking about.

“They wanted her heart to be removed from her body and given to someone else!”

His words struck Sammy with such force, they nearly rendered her helpless. She felt sick to her stomach, as if she was going to throw up. Pushing away from him, she leaned back against the sofa, clutching its arm for support, struggling to catch her breath.

“I guess my sister had signed a donor card, but she hadn’t told me about it.” He was apparently so absorbed in telling about the accident that he hadn’t noticed her reaction. “Can you imagine loving parents giving permission to do something like that to their daughter? I couldn’t. I fought them on it, but I was overruled. They were for it, and Tiger had signed that card. I still haven’t forgiven them for it. According to that card, she donated her eyes, liver, and other organs, too. They took them all. I still wish my sister had asked me before someone talked her into signing that stupid card.”

“But—but—” Her borrowed heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear him. Sammy struggled for words, any words, but they wouldn’t come. Finally she managed to say faintly, “But that heart—gave someone else life. Doesn’t that make it worthwhile?”

He held up his hand to silence her. “Don’t even try, Sammy. Believe me, I’ve heard all the arguments, and I still disagree. It’s my opinion that if God wanted a person with a bad heart to live, He would heal them. I’ve heard heart recipients only live a few years anyway.”

“But a few years could mean a world to the person who needed that heart.“

“Losing my sister was the most devastating thing that ever happened to me, especially since I was driving the car, but the idea of having Tiger’s heart beating in someone else’s body was the crowning blow. If God wanted that other person to live, why didn’t He just keep their heart from going bad?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“I hope I never meet the person who has her heart. I could never look them in the eye, knowing it took my sister’s death to keep them alive.”

“But, Ted, if your sister was a Christian, her spirit went to be with the Lord, leaving her body behind. That body was only the shell in which she lived.”

“That may be true, but that body she left behind was the part of her that I, and everyone else who loved her, saw and loved, and I didn’t want anything to happen to it.”

For the first time since beginning his upsetting disclosure, Ted looked directly at Sammy. “Your cheeks are flushed. Aren’t you feeling well?”

Tugging at her collar, she lowered her head, avoiding his penetrating gaze. “I do feel a little woozy.”

He placed his flattened palm on her forehead and frowned. “You feel warm. Can I get you a drink of water?”

“I think I have a headache coming on.

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