“Let’s move forward.” In the past, some of the people in the heart transplant community had been unsure of the efficacy of donor hearts from babies who’d died of sudden infant death syndrome because the mechanism of death in SIDS was unclear. However, recent studies had shown that the prognosis for children who received hearts from SIDS babies was the same as that of other patients.

“Where’s the heart?” he asked.

“Virginia.”

“Who’s the fellow on call?”

“Holmes.”

He knew the drill. Holmes, a PA, a nurse, and a perfusionist would make the trip to retrieve the heart. The police would escort the team to the airport. They’d take a private jet to Virginia and an ambulance to and from the waiting hospital.

“When will they be back?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. Ten a.m. at the earliest?”

“I’ll arrive at the hospital long before that.”

Shortly after waking, Leah had discovered a text from Sebastian asking her to give him a call. She’d dialed him, and he’d just finished updating her on Isabella.

So far this morning, she hadn’t even eaten a bowl of cereal. He’d soon reach Beckett Memorial to begin preparations for heart transplant surgery.

“I’m thrilled to hear that Isabella will be receiving a heart,” she said. “At the same time, I can’t imagine the heartbreak the donor baby’s parents are experiencing. They must be devastated.”

“Devastated,” he agreed. “This field is often like that. On one hand, terrible grief. On the other, hope.”

“Isabella has been seriously ill since the day she was born. The donor baby was born perfectly healthy, right?”

“Right.”

“And now the sick one, Isabella, is going to live. And the healthy one is gone.”

“The sick one is going to live because the healthy one is gone and because his parents chose to donate his organs.”

“How many transplants has the clinic performed this year?”

“This will be our tenth.”

Sunlight filtered through leaves to splash shades of orange against her bedroom’s white window shade. Another new day had come for her, but not for the donor baby. The back of her eyes pricked as she thought about what it must have been like for his parents to give permission for doctors to cut open the chest of their beautiful, unscathed infant so that a little girl they did not know could have a second chance at life. The excruciating pain of that. The unselfishness. “I’ll pray that everything goes smoothly.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll be back in Misty River in time for dinner. See you then?”

“See you then.”

Sebastian spent forty-five minutes with Megan and Timothy, explaining the surgery. Then he walked them to the family lounge.