Page 578 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

then back up.

I clear my throat.

Her eyes drop to the clipboard. “Maria’s in a room,” she says, professional. “The coordinator wants to speak with you and Paola at bedside.”

Paola reaches back blindly for me.

“She comes.”

The nurse’s attention slips to me. “Sorry.” She offers a tight smile, sucking air through her teeth. “Immediate family only for now. Two at a time.”

I lift my hand. “It’s cool.

“I don’t mind waiting out here.”

“Nah,” Andrew says.

“She stays with me.”

The nurse opens her mouth⁠—

But Andrew’s already in front of me,

grabbing my coffee,

then grabbing my hand.

“C’mon.” He tugs me from the chair,

his thumb smoothing over my knuckles.

He flashes the same smile, then shrugs.

“We’re basically one person.”

When we enter the room,

Maria’s under a warm blanket,

smiling like it's the best day of her life.

The doctor’s already in the room, standing at the foot of her bed, folder tucked under his arm. Beside him stands a tall brunette named Dana, a coordinator from the transplant team.

Her smile goes pussy-soft around Drew as he crosses the room.

I watch her gaze stick to him,

and my brain lights a cigarette,

kicks his feet up, and says,

First the nurse, now the coordinator? Oh, he absolutely ate his way to a fuckin’ liver.

“We’re optimistic,” the doctor says. “But I want to be clear. This is not guaranteed yet.”

My eyes flick to Andrew.

He doesn’t react. He keeps listening from the chair in the corner of the room, elbows digging into his thighs.