The nurse looked at Rebecca.
Something in her expression shifted.
“Mrs. Hale?”
“Rebecca.”
“Rebecca… transplant team asked if Mr. Bishop can stay afterward.”
Raymond stopped.
“Why?”
The nurse looked at him.
“They want additional testing.”
The lobby went silent.
Rebecca felt her pulse in her ears.
Raymond frowned.
“Additional?”
“Your initial blood type is compatible.”
Rebecca gripped the back of a chair.
The nurse immediately clarified:
“That does not mean you’re a match.”
“I know.”
“We need crossmatch and further evaluation.”
“I know.”
Raymond looked at Rebecca.
She stared back.
Neither smiled.
Hope had become dangerous.
They had learned not to touch it too quickly.
He simply said:
“Okay.”
The seven men went upstairs.
The rest waited.
They drank bad coffee.
Read old magazines.
One biker named Miguel built a paper airplane from a hospital parking map until security told him not to.
Another, Dennis, paced constantly.
Rebecca eventually went back to Lily.
Her daughter was awake.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Why are there motorcycles?”
Rebecca sat.
“Some people came to visit.”
“Who?”
“Friends of Eli.”
Lily knew Eli only from photographs.
“The cousin with the ugly mustache?”
Rebecca smiled.
“Yes.”
“Are they old?”
“Some.”
“Do they have ugly mustaches?”
“Several.”
Lily considered.
“Can I see?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“You’re tired.”
“I’m always tired.”
That sentence hurt.
She asked the nurse.
The nurse asked infection-control staff.
They allowed two visitors at a time, masked and sanitized.
Raymond entered first.
He looked enormous in the doorway.
Lily stared.
Raymond stopped three feet inside.
Suddenly the giant biker looked terrified.
Rebecca almost laughed.
Lily whispered:
“Are you Bear?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Nurse said.”
Raymond smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lily inspected him.
“You look like one.”
Raymond’s eyebrows lifted.
“What does a bear look like?”
“Hairy.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Raymond laughed.
“Fair.”
Lily noticed his leather vest.
“Were you Eli’s friend?”
“Yes.”
“Mom says he was trouble.”
Rebecca protested:
“I did not say that.”