Falling Into Place - Forbidden Heart Series Book 5

44| A Force To Be Reckoned With

"Ryan Hale, you should be ashamed of yourself."

I looked at Cherise with wide eyes. "Excuse me? What did I do?"

Danielle and I invited Cherise over for dinner tonight as a little make-up type thing. After we returned from Bora Bora, Jamie told us her mom was not very happy that she wasn't invited to the unscheduled wedding.

At the time, I hadn't known Cherise that well. I still didn't. Not as well as Harper and Danielle did. And in my defense, you didn't really have time to invite a lot of people when it came to eloping.

"You went to Bora Bora and didn't invite me. I'm not that young anymore, Ryan, I need to see the world while I can."

When I looked to my wife for help, she simply shrugged a shoulder. "Don't look at me, hon. I can't save you."

She wasn't wrong about that. Cherise Lovette was a force to be reckoned with. A mother to everyone, she was overbearing, stubborn, and one of the best people I knew. The more time I spent with her, the more she reminded me of Everly. And the world could really do with more women like Everly.

"I'm sorry, Cherise. There's no excuse for that and I'm very, very ashamed of myself."

Cherise rolled her eyes before smiling at Danielle. "He's just telling me what I want to hear, isn't he?" She waved a hand at me before giving me a hug. "Ah, its okay, Ryan. Now that you married my Danielle, you're a new son of mine. Welcome to the family."

***

Silence filled the hospital room when the doctor names Cherise as the donor match. The only audible sound was the beeping of the machine that monitored my daughter's vitals.

Everyone was here. Nathan and Karma. Harper and Jackson. Ayden and Lanie. Jamie, and of course, Cherise. My parents. Danielle's mom. And all eyes were wide with surprise. Except for Jamie's. Hers eyes were filled with dread.

I still couldn't believe it myself. Out of all the people who got tested....Cherise was a match. Not just a match—a zero mismatch. That meant that she was the perfect donor.

"She can't be a donor," Jamie said to the doc. "She has cancer."

"Had cancer," Dr. Simpson corrected her. "If the donor has been cancer free for over a year and wasn't metastatic, they can donate so long as they past the physical and other tests. Cherise passed with flying colors."

Jamie clearly didn't like that answer. She didn't like it one bit. "When did you even do the testing, mom? You agreed that you wouldn't."

Cherise met her daughter's stare. "We didn't agree on anything. You said you didn't want me getting tested. I disagreed and did it anyway."

I could tell where this was going, so I motioned for everyone but Danielle, Cherise, and Jamie to please leave the room. Once they were gone, the doc excused herself to give us some privacy.

"You can't do this, mom."

"I'm a grown woman, Guinevere. I can do as I please. And I will donate a part of my liver to save this baby's life."

Jamie crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "What about the risks? You aren't as strong as you think you are. The surgery can—"

"The surgery will save her life. You can't ask me to ignore that. That would be incredibly selfish of me." Cherise's expression was firm. "I'm a zero mismatch, Guinevere. You know what that means."