~ A MONTH LATER ~
Thanksgiving had never felt so lonely.
I mean… it hadn’t been that much fun since my father died, but at least back then I still had my mother. Now she was gone too, and all I had left were the thoughts I kept trying to outrun.
I kept replaying the moment I woke up after the transplant. The beeping machines. The burning in my chest. The realization that I was still here, still breathing, still trapped in a life I didn’t want.
I survived when I didn’t intend to. And instead of feeling grateful… I felt guilty. Angry. Unworthy.
I couldn’t stay in New York. Not when the Kane family existed in that city, walking around with grief I caused. I couldn’t risk Jaxson seeing me. I couldn’t stand in front of him knowing the truth that his father’s blood was on my hands.
So when
