To the Highest Bidder Go the Spoils

Chapter 22

"We don't know if this will send him into remission yet, but hopefully it will. As for the first part, did he say he would stay?" Anderson had to look at his friend to see the nod of his head. "Then he will stay. You don't have to worry about that."

"I've been so harsh to him."

"You're harsh to all of your lovers. The difference is this time, this one figured you out. He's got you wrapped around his finger, and very tightly I might add." He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his scrub pants pocket. "Usually we don't give the names of the donors, but in this case, the donor wanted you to know. Here. It was left for you."

Zeke took the paper and opened it. He read it quietly before a laugh escaped him. More tears followed, and he laughed while crying. He hadn't done that in years.

"She's in recovery room three if you want to see her," Anderson said. Zeke looked up at his friend. "She's very interesting most days. I see why we've all been friends for as long as we have."

"I don't want to miss Gavin," Zeke protested.

"It will take a minute. He's still under anesthesia. Whenever he wakes up, I'll let you know. He'll be upstairs in room 205."

They went their separate ways. Anderson had another patient to take care of and Zeke went in search of the note's author. He was a little overwhelmed but relief was more potent.

He knocked on recovery room three. A deep voice bid him welcome. He opened the door, closing it gently behind him. When he turned around, he couldn't help the tears of happiness. He shook his head as he walked on into the room. He sat on the edge of the bed, taking the dainty hand pressed on the white sheet.

"When did you do it?" he asked. "I barely told anyone, Eva."

Eva smiled at him. "I overheard the conversation between Mrs. Morgan and Mr. Sampson when I was going to the bathroom. They said Gavin had been through enough and here I came to make things worse. Mrs. Morgan said she hoped he came through the next round of chemo because she wasn't sure you'd make it if the leukemia took him. I confirmed it with Anderson in no uncertain terms and was tested the next week. I asked him to keep it to himself."

"Why? Why would you make such a big decision without telling me?"

"Because contrary to popular belief, you are not my husband." She took the other man's hand and stared up at him lovingly.

Zeke understood what she meant. He looked at the other man. "What did you have to say about this, Paolo?"

Paolo looked at him as Eva tucked her head into his shoulder. "She's always had a soft spot for you, but it has never bothered me. However, she was vastly upset about this. We decided that if this was our child, we would do the same. So why couldn't we do the same for our friend? I hope wholeheartedly he recovers because he is the best thing for you."

Eva pointed to the table. There was a stuffed bear sitting atop it with a dozen yellow roses. "Mrs. Morgan said those are his favorite flowers. Give them to him and give him my regards. There's a note in there for him as well."

"Do you need anything?" Zeke adjusted the blankets around him.

She shook her head. "I think we're set here. We'll go to our hotel once I'm discharged, and we'll fly out tomorrow morning."

"Charge your hotel to my account. I'll take care of it."

They argued a minute before Paolo put a stop to it. He agreed to charge the hotel to Zeke's account, but he wouldn't take their flight from them. They would still pay for their flight back to their kids. Zeke agreed with them, but he was going to make sure they were taken care of when they got home.