Heart At Risk

“But you will, won’t you, dear.” She smiled confidently and picked up their cups and carried them to the sink.

In the past ten years he’d been his own man, made his own decisions unless the military made them for him. But no one talked him into doing anything he didn’t want to do—and right now he wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as he could.

With that firm resolution in mind he opened his mouth and said, “Okay, but just until tomorrow.”

Kurt glanced at Maddie who had just come down the stairs. She didn’t look happy—appalled would be more correct. He swung his gaze back to Beth. She looked like the cat who’d just swallowed the canary.

So why did he suddenly feel like he’d just stepped into a steaming pile of horse manure?

Chapter 3

“Boy, this is cool,” Scotty said when Kurt brought his backpack into the bedroom. “I never had a roommate before.”

“You mean you’ve never had a sleepover?”

“Oh, sure, but that’s not the same as someone staying for more than one night. How long you gonna stay, Mr. Bolen?”

“Sorry, pal, just for tonight,” Kurt said. Unless he could think of a good excuse for leaving right away.

“I cleaned out one of my dresser drawers. You can put your clothes in it, Mr. Bolen.”

“That’s not necessary, Scotty. I’ll keep them in my pack. And just call me Kurt. I’m not used to such formality.”

“My mom said it’s not polite to address an elder person by their first name.”

“Maybe a woman—but we fellows have to stick together, right?” He gave Scotty a high five and the boy grinned.

“Aunt Beth brought in some extra hangers so’s you can hang up your shirts and pants.”

“That was very nice of her, but I only have a couple shirts, and an extra pair of jeans. I didn’t figure on staying away too long.”

“You mean from the hospital in Milwaukee?” Compassion now glowed in the boy’s blue eyes that only seconds before were alight with happiness. “Does your leg hurt real bad?”

“Naw…nothing to worry about. Tomorrow it’ll be fine.”

“I hope not.” He blushed in embarrassment. “I mean, I hope you don’t have any more pain, but I want you to stay longer.”

As Kurt glanced around the room, a thought crossed his mind. “Do you have a computer, Scotty?”

“No, but my mom does down at the bookstore. Sometimes she brings it home with her. We could go down and get it.”

“No, forget it. I just thought I’d pass some time chatting with a couple friends on the Internet.”

“Sometimes when I’m at the bookstore Mom lets me play a game on the Internet, but that’s all. She said there are naughty pictures and per…”

“Perverts,” Kurt said.

Scotty nodded. “She said these perverts lurk on the Internet trying to se…ah…”

“Seduce?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah, that’s the word. They hurt young kids.” He frowned. “How can they do that, Kurt, if they don’t even live here?”

This was as bad as trying to explain the birds and the bees to the kid. “They pretend to be your friend to find out where you live. If you’re too young to come to them, they’ll come to you.”

“I guess I don’t have to worry ’cause I don’t have a computer. You can watch television if you like.” He walked over and turned on a small set on the corner of a desk.

Kurt picked up the remote, sat down on the edge of the bed and began to channel surf. The choices were limited.

“My mom had a chip put on the channels I shouldn’t watch.”

“Can’t get away with anything today, can you?”

He hit a news channel and was about to move on when the newscaster mentioned the world-wide spread of criminal organ harvesting. Recalling what he had observed while in Colombia, Kurt listened to the discussion between the panel of three men and a woman. He was surprised to see that one of the panelists was Dr. Escobar, the doctor in charge of the hospital in Colombia.

According to the panelists, organ donations were needed all over the world but the demand was so much greater than the supply that in many countries innocent victims were being attacked and would wake up missing vital organs.

“Kurt, what’s organ harvesting?” Scotty asked.

Kurt switched off the tube. “Prior to dying, Scotty, many people indicate that they want their organs donated to others who are in need of them.”

“Like what?” Scotty asked.

“There’s a multitude of things, pal. Hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers. All sorts of things. Even skin.”

“Wow! You mean you can take something from someone’s body and put it in somebody else’s?”

“Well, it’s a pretty tricky procedure but yes, you can and it saves thousands of people’s lives.”

“Kids’ lives, too.”

“Sure. Babies born with damaged heart valves and things like that. It’s amazing. Of course, there has to be a lot of things in play to make it successful. The donor would have to have been in good health—most likely died from an accident. Then the organ has to be removed when the donor is legally brain dead, but still has a functioning heart and lungs. In other words, the organs would be useless if removed after there ceased to be oxygen being transported to those areas.”

Scotty frowned. “If a person’s dead, how can that happen?”

“Machines, Scotty. A person’s brain can be mush, but machines can keep them alive to remove these organs and such in time. And a person doesn’t have to be dead to donate an organ. Many people legally donate organs to family members and others in need in order to save their lives. Kidneys and bone marrow are good examples of what a healthy person can donate without dying to do so.”

“What about arms and legs. If a person was dying could you donate them, too?”

“I don’t think so, Scotty. At least I’ve never heard of it. I’ve heard of reattaching fingers and hands, but they were the victim’s to begin with.”

“Maybe someday the doctors will figure out how to do that, too, then no one would have to use a wheelchair or a pro…”

“Prosthesis,” Kurt said. He tousled the young boy’s hair. “Yeah, maybe someday.”

He liked this kid. He had never had much to do with children before, but it was almost as if he and Scotty had bonded on sight.

Unfortunately the same could not be said about him and Maddie. The woman seemed to dislike him on sight. So maybe he was a bit on the wild side when they were in school. How long can she carry a grudge? That was ten years ago—so let it go, lady!