Just This Once by Evelyn Jeannie Hall

Twenty-Two

Lacey stood outside the ICU waiting room as everyone else took turns visiting Zane. His mom and sister took up most of that time, but since they’d traveled all the way from Detroit and were his closest family members, that was to be expected. Benji and Katrina snuck in whenever they could, with Elizabeth serving as more of a support system to whoever wasn’t with him in that moment.

As much as Lacey had been anxious about Benji’s reaction to her and Zane’s getting together, he’d taken the discovery remarkably well. Not that he’d been given much choice since it would’ve been super crazy for Benji to rant and rail at a couple about to undergo major surgery. But it reminded her of anticipating a knock down drag out boxing match only for it to last all of five seconds.

Hardly worth the hype.

“You sure that wasn’t some breach of you guy’s bro code etiquette or something?” Lacey hadn’t been able to keep herself from asking. “You’re not going to punch him in the balls the second he gets out of surgery, are you?”

Benji yanked his mouth sardonically to one side. “Listen, I’m not saying I might not have thumped him during our next sparring match all things being equal. But after that, I’m sure I would’ve gotten used to the idea. You love him?”

“Yes.”

“He love you?”

“He said he did.”

“Then, I’m cool with it.” Benji rubbed his eyebrow scar when he said this, an indication that he still felt some hesitancy, though that likely had more to do with what faced them. “Any questions about how solid you two were going to be got solved for me when you told him about donating your kidney, and he tried to stop you. Him being willing to die rather than jeopardizing you is a powerful indicator of devotion in my book.”

As someone who’d thrown himself in front of a convicted felon to protect Lacey and her sisters, he would know. So, the tension and conflict she’d feared might divide Benji and Zane became usurped by matters of life and death.

Literally.

The morning of the surgery, Lacey visited Zane one last time. Not that she believed it would be the last time they’d see one another, but she couldn’t deny feeling some real apprehension. Going under the knife was nerve-wracking.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she greeted him, purposely putting her most upbeat foot forward.

“Good morning, baby.” His face lit up when he saw her, but the gray cast to his complexion remained. “You can still back out of this, you know.”

“Not a chance,” she told him in no uncertain terms, but then she lightened things up again. “You’ve been inside me plenty of times. Thought it was time I returned the favor.”

He laughed at her, shaking his head. “Christ, I love you. You’re the only woman I know who’d turn a transplant surgery into a sex joke.”

She smirked, pleased her attempt to cheer him worked. “I love you, too.” She clasped his hands in hers, but that proved to be a mistake.

“You’re trembling, Lacey. You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

As tempting as it was to fib, she knew he’d see right through her, so she went for a slight dodge. “Maybe a bit, not gonna lie. But my biggest issue is this lame hospital johnnie. It is so not flattering.”

“Ooh, is your ass hanging out? Let me see.” He made a motion as if to tug at her arm to get her to turn around but had trouble following through. She pretended not to notice.

“Oh, I’m wearing two of these bad boys. One front ways and one backwards. No one’s getting a peek of my lovely lady lumps but you once all this is over.”

He gave her a disbelieving glance. “So, you’re okay with window sex over the park, but a chance of butt cheek slippage is a bridge too far?”

She put a finger up to the corner of her lips as if to think about it. “It may not make much sense, but I’m going to go with yes.”

Zane smiled, and Lacey made a point of memorizing every line of it.

“What’d I ever do to deserve you?” he asked.

“Gave me regular earth-shattering orgasms, mostly.”

“Something I’m looking forward to going back to as soon as possible,” he quipped, but then his eyes grew serious, and she knew he was considering the drastic nature of what they were about to do.

Hoping to both give and receive comfort, she knelt forward to paste a peck on the tip of his nose. Before she could, Zane tipped his chin upwards and captured her lips with his in a kiss that was anything but an innocent peck. His mouth opened on hers demanding entrance, and she welcomed him in, wishing to hell she hadn’t wasted those weeks prior to his coma holding a grudge.

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and reluctantly, Lacey detached from him.

“There you are, Ms. Farrell,” Dr. Rajeesh had materialized in the ICU unit behind her. “We’re going to go ahead and take Zane as they get you all prepped and ready.”

“Okay, doctor.” Offering the man she loved one more smile, she allowed his physician to shoo her out.

Katrina, Elizabeth, and Benji had all come to support her and Zane and seeing the three of them all lined up and sending her good vibes meant so much to her.

“Sorry I’m missing all my shifts at the bakery,” she said to Elizabeth.

“Don’t worry,” her youngest sister rejoined, “I’ll just work you double time once you’re back.”

“And remember,” Benji began, his tone jocular even if his eyes were fringed in concern. “You’ll get to hold this over his head forever. Zane’ll owe you for life.”

“Yep,” Katrina agreed. “You’ll officially be crowned the winner of any and all quarrels in perpetuity. Oh, you think you’re not doing the laundry? Think again, buster. I gave you a kidney.”

Lacey giggled, so thankful for them. “I love you guys. Really.”

“We love you, too,” Katrina and Elizabeth spoke in unison. She and her sisters were always on the same wavelength without even trying. They formed a three-way embrace before Benji approached.

“Next time you see us, it’ll all be over,” he told her, and it was exactly what she needed to hear. Kissing her on the top of her head, he stepped back just in time for the orderlies to show up.

Once not under the scrutiny of her family, Lacey’s senses seemed to become ultra-sensitive. She felt every minor bump the gurney hit as she was pushed toward the operating room. She could make out every tap on the keyboard as they passed the nurse’s station, and even imagined hearing a scalpel falling on the floor in the distance. She caught the tang of burned coffee, as well as the strong athletic scent of one of the orderly’s cologne.

Overhead, the fluorescent lights along the ceiling went by in a strobe pattern, and she felt oddly disconnected, as if she were watching someone else enduring this instead of her. Only after her gurney entered a space where everyone was wearing facemasks and surgical caps did everything become real to her again. Then, her pulse flew into panic mode, making the blood pressure monitor they’d attached to her arm go haywire.

A gloved hand touched her arm. “Relax. You’re okay.”

Lacey nodded, wishing the nurse who’d said that could somehow guarantee it. And knowing full well she couldn’t. Lacey might’ve suffered the worst anxiety attack of her life had they not chosen that instant to line her gurney up next to Zane’s. She saw him there, lying on his back and already under based on his closed eyes and the mask over his face, and it reminded her why she was doing this. Immediately, she calmed right down.

More than anything she’d ever done, Lacey had volunteered to do this for all the right reasons, and that gave her strength. Nonetheless, when they placed an identical mask over her mouth and nose, she had one passing thought before the anesthesia told hold.

Please let everything be all right.