After Transplantation

Chapter One

My older brother’s son, Danny, was in dire straits with kidney failure.

He desperately needed a transplant.

My husband, Mark, and his mother secretly took my daughter, Lily, to get her blood typed.

Turns out, she was a match.

I grabbed Lily and holed up at my parents’ place.

Then Mark shows up with Danny’s whole family, practically on their knees, begging my daughter to save his life.

“Are you out of your freakin’ mind? Who gave you the right to drag Lily in for blood typing?”

We’re at the dinner table when Mark starts stammering about taking our daughter for a check-up last week.

He and his mom had told her it was just a follow-up from her high school physical, something about a little blip they found.

Said they didn’t want to stress her out during finals.

I was swamped at work those days, so I figured, hey, it’s her dad, he’s looking out for her.

Lily mentioned some weird tests, different from the high school thing.

I didn’t sweat it. Never thought Mark would pull something like this on his own daughter.

Now he’s telling me he used that appointment to get her tissue typed.

“Come on, Sarah, don’t get your panties in a twist. Mom says Danny’s in really bad shape. If he doesn’t get a new kidney, he’s a goner. We can’t just sit back and watch him die, can we?”

“If you wanna play savior, go find someone else. Why are you even thinking about using my daughter?”

“What kind of thing is that to say! He’s still my nephew, Sarah!”

Mark explodes, slamming his fork on the table, puffing himself up like a rooster.

“Not even if I was on my deathbed would I let my daughter be used!”

“Sarah! How can you talk like that? Are you even part of this family? If your own brother’s kid was in the same boat, wouldn’t you help? You just don’t see my family as your family.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“Help how? By offering up your daughter’s kidney so your nephew can live it up?”

Mark’s jaw drops, and the air goes out of his sails.

He tries to defend himself.

“It’s just one kidney. Lily’s got two! The doctor said it wouldn’t kill her.”

I am done with this conversation.

I shove back my chair, grab Lily, and head out the door.

I’ve known Mark since we were kids.

We were practically raised together.

After college, we were both single, and our families thought, why not give it a shot?

Mark isn’t exactly the type to cheat. We dated a couple of times, and next thing you know, we’re hitched.

Before the wedding, I thought he was a decent guy.

He treated his brother and mom like gold, and he was polite enough to everyone else.

I figured, even if we weren’t head-over-heels, we could at least live together peacefully.

Turns out, Mark’s got some serious issues lurking under the surface.

Right after we got married, his mom decided she wanted to move into our place, into the master bedroom.

The house was a wedding gift from my parents.

Mark’s dad died early. His mom raised him and his brother, Jason, by herself. Jason’s wedding and kids had eaten up all their savings.

My folks said no need for a dowry or a house, we’ll cover it.

The house was my parents’ purchase, and Mark and I split the cost of the renovation.

Once we were done fixing the place up, Mark’s mom decided she missed her son and wanted to move in.

At first, I refused. We had agreed, no parents living with us.

Then I got pregnant, but my parents were busy with their jobs and couldn’t come over to help out, so Mark’s mom volunteered to take care of the housework.

And that’s when the drama started.

“Honey, your mama here has never lived in someone else’s house. In the old days, the folks had the master bedroom, not the help. This house is your wife’s. Are we giving away our son in this family?”

“That’s the guest room. And nobody talks like that anymore.”

I tried to explain patiently, but she wouldn’t hear it.

Whenever I wasn’t home, she’d complain to Mark.

One day I got back from work and caught Mark moving our stuff into the guest room. He looked guilty when he saw me.

“What are you doing?”

I asked Mark.

Mark started stuttering.

His mom, on the other hand, was grinning.

“My son says the elders should always have the master bedroom. You two are moving to the guest room.”

I threw the grocery bag I was carrying at Mark’s feet.

“Is this our house, or your mom’s?”

Her face crumpled, and she looked at Mark with a wounded expression.

“Isn’t my son’s house my house? What’s wrong with a mother living in the master bedroom?”

“Mark, tell me, whose house is this?”

Mark looked at me, then at his mom, and finally spoke hesitantly.

“Sarah, she’s my mom. She’s only staying for a little while, while you’re pregnant. Can’t you be tolerant?”

I stared at him, stunned.

“Only while I’m pregnant, huh? I’ll make an appointment at the clinic tomorrow, and we’ll get rid of your mom as soon as possible.”

Mark panicked.

“Sarah, what are you saying?”

I said calmly, “You said she’s only staying while I’m pregnant. I’ll get an abortion in a couple of days. You’d better keep your word and send your mom back home.”

As soon as she heard I was going to get rid of the baby, Mark’s mom started sobbing and screaming.

After a long tirade, she saw that I wasn’t budging, so she packed her things and went back to her old home.

Mark wasn’t happy, but he didn’t do anything to me. He kept taking me to my doctor’s appointments.

I even started to think that maybe Mark was the real man.

Before I married him, his brother and sister-in-law had already had a son.

Mark’s mom kept saying she wanted us to have a grandson, so she could have a big, happy family.

But I didn’t care about boys or girls, and Mark didn’t say anything.

When I was four months along, Mark started subtly asking me to find out the gender of the fetus.

I asked him, “What’s wrong? I thought you said boys and girls are the same?”

Mark wouldn’t answer me directly.

“I’m not being sexist. I’m just curious about the baby.”

“Curious about what? We’ll find out in six months.”

“I’m just impatient, Sarah. We can get the baby’s clothes ready.”

Mark tried to convince me.

“Hospitals don’t allow fetal sex detection. We don’t need to challenge that.”

He got anxious.

Because of my insistence, we never found out the baby’s gender.

Every time we went to Mark’s house, his mom gave me the stink eye.

Fortunately, I didn’t care what she thought.

I knew Mark’s mom was secretly giving his brother and sister-in-law a lot of money because they had a son.

I didn’t care. It was her money, and it had nothing to do with us.

But I would never allow them to take my daughter to save that brat, Danny.

Lily and I walked out, and she kept her head down.

I didn’t notice how quiet she was until we were halfway home. I glanced at her. She looked like a sad, dejected kitten.

“Lily, what’s wrong?”

“Mom, Dad and Grandma took me for a check-up. Were they trying to find a kidney for Danny? Do they want my kidney?”

Lily’s voice was soft, like she had no emotions.

But I raised her myself. I could tell she was upset.

Even I hadn’t expected Mark to do something like this.

Even if Mark loves his mom, he should know the difference between family and friends.

His nephew and his daughter. He wouldn’t choose his nephew, would he?

I was wrong about Mark.

Mark’s nephew, Danny, is the only son of his brother, Jason, and his wife, Jennifer.

They spoil him.

He’s five years older than Lily, but he doesn’t act like it.

I wasn’t surprised when he was diagnosed with kidney failure.

After Danny got sick, he stayed in the hospital. I went with Mark to see him, and I brought a nice gift to help out.

But I didn’t know Mark was sending more behind my back.

I didn’t mind him sending some money. I thought it would be easier to solve the problem with money.

But then he got himself blood-typed.

Turns out, he wasn’t the best match.

So he decided to use Lily.

When Lily got back for summer break, he casually asked her how her high school physical went.

Mark never treated her badly, but he didn’t treat her as well as he treated Danny.

Lily knew it but never said anything.

So when her dad showed her attention, she told him everything.

Mark asked her, “Why don’t I take you to the hospital for a check-up? We need to take care of our bodies so we don’t end up like your cousin, Danny, who ruined his body so young.”

Lily was happy, but I didn’t agree.

“Mark, I’m warning you, if you want a check-up, go ahead, but don’t do anything crazy like tissue typing. We can send Jason’s family some money, but we’re not giving away a kidney.”

When his mom asked us to get tissue typed, I refused.

If we weren’t a match, no big deal. But if we were a match and we didn’t want to donate, that would cause a rift.

So I didn’t agree to the tissue typing, and I didn’t let Mark go.

Mark laughed.

“What are you worried about, Sarah? Lily is my daughter. I’ll protect her.”