"Colton, it's your turn to make breakfast," I said, sitting down on the dining table.
He looked up from his phone. "Really?"
"Yes, really," I said, unlocking the lock screen of my phone.
"Okay, then get ready to taste my magic," he said, standing up and doing a dramatic gesture.
Smiling, I shook my head at his antics, and checked my messages.
There were three messages from Vivan.
I frowned and quickly opened them to read.
Ness, pick up.
It's urgent.
I tried calling you. Please call back when you see this. It's urgent.
I immediately closed my messages and checked my call log. There were seven missed calls from Vivan.
My heart started to beat wildly.
"C-Colton," I said. He did not hear me. Mainly because my voice was barely audible, and partly because he was busily humming a tune and flipping pancakes.
"Colton," I said again, this time loudly enough for him to hear.
"Yeah?" He turned around. "I'm making pan-" He stopped talking when he saw me. There must have been clear distress written over my face because every nerve in my body was numb with fear.
"Ness," he slowly came towards me. "What happened?"
"Something is wrong, Colton," I said, and showed him Vivan's messages and missed calls.
Colton took the phone from my hand. My mind was racing miles per minute and the most terrible of possibilities were being ticked off in an imaginary list in my mind. What could have happened? That many number of missed calls was not a lighthearted matter.
I had given Nate thirty seven missed calls that night.
"Here," said Colton, placing his hand on my shoulder and handing me my phone back. "Speak to Vivan."
"Hello? Hello? Ness, are you there?" Vivan was saying, when I took the phone from Colton.
"H-Hello," I said, taking a deep breath, "I'm here, Vivan."
"Thank the Lord, you called," he said, sighing loudly, probably with relief. "I thought it was going to be too late."
"What happened?" I asked, trying not to shout. "What's wrong?"
"It's Nate. He's in the hospital. The doctors are not sure if he's going to make it," said Vivan.
"What happened to him?" My eyes widened and I looked around frantically, not knowing how to react. "How can he not make it? It's not-"
"Nessie, one of his kidneys failed. Now the other one is failing, too. There's no donor who is a match to him. He's dying, Nessie. You should come and meet him before he's gone."
The phone dropped from my hand. I stood up slowly, my knees unsteady and shaky.
"I-I have to go. I have to go back. Nate needs me," I said.
Colton shook his head. "You're not going alone. I'm coming, too. Let me book the earliest flight."
He tapped away on his phone and I slumped down into the chair again.
Nate... we entered this world together. I'm not going to let you leave it alone. You didn't save me that night and I know how it feels. I don't want you to feel the same.
I'll give you my kidney.
