Something Noble Read Free

How I wish he was healthy enough to be embarrassed.
    â€œMama,” he says.
    â€œListen, you hang in there,” I say. “We’re gonna get you fixed up.”
    Dre doesn’t answer. But I gotta keep talking. This is one of those times when silence is not golden.
    â€œYou remember back in the old days, when it was just you and me against the world? We made it through some rough times, kiddo. But we kept each other going. I was there for you, and you were there for me. You’re my whole life, Dre. So just you remember that. A little old kidney ain’t nothing.”
    â€œI don’t wanna die,” Dre whispers.
    â€œYou’re not gonna die. You’re gonna live. Hear me? Don’t let me hear that word again.”
    â€œOkay,” Dre whispers.
    â€œLet me hear you say it. You’re gonna live.”
    â€œGonna live,” Dre says. He can barely get the words out.
    Dr. Wendell shows up a few minutes later along with a couple of nurses. I’m so grateful to see him. He feels like the only friend I’ve got.
    â€œThings are worse than we realized,” he says.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I ask.
    â€œI got Dre’s results back, but I didn’t have a chance to call you yet. Both of Dre’s kidneys are having problems. He needs dialysis right away. They’re going to take him down now and put in a shunt. That’s like a needle that never comes out. After that you can sit with him if you want. The treatment takes a while.”
    I start to follow them out of the room. But Dr. Wendell puts his hand on my shoulder.
    â€œWait,” he says. “I need to talk to you a minute.”
    â€œWhat is it?” I ask. I watch Dre’s bed disappear down the hall.
    â€œIt’s about the future,” he says. “I’m afraid the dialysis is only a temporary fix.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œMy tests showed that both his kidneys are malfunctioning. Dre is going to need a transplant as soon as possible,” says Dr. Wendell.
    I stare at him. “You mean…a whole new kidney?”
    â€œThat’s right,” he says.
    For a moment I feel like I’m going to faint. First I wonder how Dre is going to deal with this news. And then all I can think of is how much this is going to cost. I barely afford to pay the phone bill.
    But then I remember not to worry about that kind of stuff. The important thing is Dre. Money is temporary. Love is forever.
    â€œWow,” I say. “This is just—”
    â€œOverwhelming,” says the doctor. “I know.”
    â€œSo how do we get a new kidney?” I ask.
    â€œBasically, we have to wait for a donor,” says the doctor. “There’s a waiting list. You’re already on it.”
    â€œYou mean we have to wait for someone to die so Dre can have his kidney,” I say.
    I don’t even want to ask how long that can take. It feels like the wrong question. Our family’s happiness depends on some other family’s misery. It seems cruel and unfair. What kind of a world is this anyway? Sometimes I don’t want any part of it.
    â€œThere’s another way. Someone could donate a kidney,” says Dr. Wendell.
    I have the solution before I’ve finished drawing my next breath. I’ll give Dre one of my own kidneys. Hell, I would give him my life if I had to. But Dr. Wendell can tell what I’m thinking.
    â€œWe can’t use one of yours,” he says. “You can’t be a donor for Dre.”
    â€œWhat? Why not?”
    â€œDre has a very rare blood type,” he explains. “It’s AB negative.”
    â€œI remember,” I say. They told me that when he was a baby. I thought it was strange he wasn’t the same blood type as his mama, but they said that happens all the time. “So what?”
    â€œIt would be best if the kidney came from someone with the same blood type,” says Dr. Wendell. “And