ᗴ᙭ᑭᒪOՏIᐯᗴՏ|ᵗⁱᵐ ᵇʳᵃᵈᶠᵒʳᵈ

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒| 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦!

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Both woman looked up, finding Officer West standing there, trying to wipe some blood away from his shoulder.

"I got stuck with a hypodermic needle this morning, so now I'm just... well, Diana offered to come and wait here with me, so, yeah." Lucy looked down at her hands, not really wanting to see the sympathetic look he was giving her.

"I, uh, can wait with you."

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

Silence followed for a few minutes. In the beginning, Lucy was in her phone again, but Diana snatched that, making sure she wouldn't make herself even more paranoid.

After some time, Jackson hesitantly decided to speak up. "I've been here before. Waiting for news."

Both women turned their entire attention to him. Diana wasn't sure if she should hear this since she and Officer West weren't close by any means, but it was his decision. If he didn't want her to listen, then he would have said so.

"Before police academy, my, uh, brother, Marshall, was diagnosed with diabetic nephropathy," he said. Noticing the looks he was receiving, he went on to explain. "It's a kidney disease."

"I'm sorry. Is he okay?"

"Yeah. Now.... But at the time, it looked like he needed a kidney transplant, and I was the only one in my family that was a match."

"You can't become a cop with only one kidney," Diana remarked, before simultaneously sighing along with Lucy. "That is a lot to carry."

Jackson shook his head in designation. "Man, I was not ready for it. I'd been counting the days until I could start the Academy, and suddenly, I was facing the idea of putting it all on hold." He paused. "I agonized over it. But Marshall said that he could wait. That it really wasn't that serious. So... I took the out."

"He was looking out for you," Lucy smiled at him, while Diana was stuck at another part of his story. "Let me guess... he couldn't wait?"

"No," he replied, looking down at his hands in his lap. "He suffered acute renal failure two months after we started. He almost died."

Lucy said up in her seat, concerned for her best friend. "Whoa, why didn't you tell us?"

"I was ashamed," he confessed. "I mean, it was my fault. I... Luckily, the hospital found another donor and he got the transplant, but my mom still hasn't forgiven me."

"Which is why missing brunch was such a big deal," Lucy concluded, making him nod.

"And in her mind, I chose the job before family. Again."

Lucy looked at him intensely. "It's not the same."

He huffed sadly.

"It's really not."

Now, Diana leaned forward in her seat, too, deciding to tell him what's on her mind. "Jackson, what about your brother? How's your relationship with him?"

He shrugged. "Well, the same as before, to be honest. He moved away, so we mostly call each other. Actually... it's mostly him who calls me. I still feel guilty when talking to him, you know?"

Diana took one of his big hands in hers. "Jackson, I think you should talk to a professional about this."

"What?"

"I'm serious. I didn't study psychology. What I do know however, is that it's psychologically speaking a huge deal to donate an organ. We are talking about giving someone else a part of you. No matter if they are strangers or part of your family, a responsibility like this puts a strain on your mind. You need to talk to someone who can help you with that, maybe even someone who experienced it."