Chapter 42: The next hour was the longest of Leo’s life. ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄
The next hour was the longest of Leo’s life...
The silence in the living room was a physical presence, thick and heavyweighted. Sarah’s mother busied herself in the kitchen, the clinking of coffee cups and the running of water sounding unnaturally loud...
It was an unnatural attempt to do something, anything, to feel useful in a situation where she was utterly helpless. Sarah’s father sat stiffly on the couch, his hands clasped between his knees, staring at the blank TV screen as if it held the answers to their problems...
Sarah didn’t leave Leo’s side at all. She sat on the floor by his chair, leaning against his leg, her hand resting on his knee...
She was very quiet, and her breathing was shallow. Leo didn’t move, his focus narrowed to the second hand on his phone’s clock, watching it tick away the minutes with excruciating slowness...
He felt a strange disconnect, as if he were watching a scene from a movie. This couldn’t be his life. Just two days ago, his biggest worry was a surprise sleepover. Now, the word ’transplant’ was echoing in his mind...
He felt Sarah’s hand tighten on his knee, and he looked down at her. Her eyes were fixed on him, filled with a terrifying mix of fear, hope and absolute trust...
She was looking to him to be her anchor, and he knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that he could not let her down... He placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. It was a small gesture, but to them it was a silent promise that he was still there...
When the clock on his phone finally showed that an hour had passed, Leo took a deep and steadying breath... He picked up the phone, his movements were deliberately filled with urgency... Sarah’s parents stopped what they were doing and turned to watch him, their faces covered with anxiety...
He dialed the number for the Yamada Hospital’s cardiology department. He put the phone on speaker again, the sound of the ringing tone filling the tense silence...