The Sister Between Us: A Small Town Second Chance Romance by Hailey Dickert

Author:Hailey Dickert [Dickert, Hailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

25

JAKE

“Jake, you’re up after Matt,” Ms. Gibbons, my English teacher, instructs. For Christmas break, she assigned us to write a poem based on someone that’s impacted our life. Choosing my inspiration was easy. Getting the words out without a complete breakdown was damn near impossible.

After they declared Chloe brain dead, Dad signed a form at the hospital to donate Chloe’s organs, and we got a letter a week later that she’d saved four lives. Four other people got a chance at life because of Chloe. All of their families contacted us in the months following Chloe’s death.

Logan Joseph Ends, twelve years old and a lover of building model trains, received Chloe’s right kidney. He’d been waiting two years for a match.

Isaac Young, fifteen years old and obsessed with Led Zeppelin and playing guitar, received Chloe’s left kidney after waiting six months for a match and undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy.

Sylvie Austin, twenty-two years old and a lover of writing Harry Potter fan fiction, received Chloe’s lungs after waiting three years for a transplant and enduring four rounds of chemotherapy.

Larissa Mae Underwood, thirty-two years old, a talented painter and a mom of two, received Chloe’s heart after being on the transplant list for five years. Five years.

Larissa visited us in December to thank us. It felt weird to be thanked for something I had no control over and would have sold my soul to change if given the chance. She allowed us to listen to Chloe’s heart beating in her chest. It was one of the strangest things I’ve ever experienced. Hearing the heartbeat of a stranger, knowing it belonged to someone I loved. Someone who grew together with me in the same womb.

Meeting Larissa helped me feel connected to Chloe, even though she’s already been gone for months. When Ms. Gibbons assigned this poem, I knew immediately it had to be about them.

I flip my notebook to the page where I’ve scribbled it down. My classmates start clapping as Matt finishes his poem and does an exaggerated bow. I wasn’t listening, but I’m sure it was cheesy and hilarious.

“Jake, your turn,” Ms. Gibbons says. I stand and walk slowly towards the front. I turn to face my classmates, and they’re all staring at me intently. “Whenever you're ready.”

I take one heavy inhale, then read the one homework assignment I’ll never forget.

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