Free Hummingbird Heart by Robin Stevenson Page B

near the harbor. A cool breeze blew off the water, and I shivered, tucking my hands into my sleeves and pulling my hoodie around myself more tightly. A harbor ferry chugged slowly toward the inner harbor. A sailboat scudded by, its canvas white against the dark green-gray of the waves.
    I snuck a glance at Mark as we walked. He was wearing a long black coat over dark gray pants, and I thought about how he lived in a different world from me and Mom and Karma. A world where you didn’t have to worry about paying the rent. He and Lisa probably lived somewhere nice, in a big house they owned. I wondered what he thought about Mom cleaning houses for a living. He and Lisa probably paid someone like Mom to keep their own place clean.
    â€œIt’s beautiful here,” Mark said.
    â€œYeah. We’ve already covered that topic pretty thoroughly.” I knew it was rude, but if I had to make more small talk, my head was going to explode.
    He sighed. “Look, I don’t know what the right thing to do is. I know you want an explanation, but I’m sure you also realize your mother is not going to be happy about this. About me talking to you.”
    I waited.
    â€œOkay. The thing is, I think you have a right to make up your own mind. If I was sure that Amanda would tell you herself, I wouldn’t say anything.”
    He was trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, I realized. I nodded, wanting to help him along. “Sure. That makes sense.”
    Mark stopped walking and turned to face me. “Dylan, what I’m about to tell you…just promise me you’ll think about it, okay? Even if you’re upset. Promise me you’ll really think about it.”
    I nodded, confused. “Sure. I promise.”
    He tilted his head to one side, studying me as if I was a puzzle of some kind. “My daughter, Casey,” he said slowly. “I showed you her picture last night.”
    â€œI remember.” That big-eyed girl he’d called my half sister.
    â€œCasey has something called acute lymphoblastic leukemia.” Mark was speaking slowly and carefully, watching my face. “It’s a blood disease—a kind of cancer of the blood cells.”
    â€œJeez. That’s awful. I’m sorry.” I wondered if she was dying. It wasn’t the kind of question you could ask. Besides, what if the answer was yes? I wouldn’t know what to say.
    â€œYes. It is awful.” He cleared his throat. “She was a healthy kid until last winter. Around Christmas she started losing weight, getting ear infections and sore throats and saying she was tired all the time. She’d had a bad flu, and we figured she was just run-down. Then she started complaining of leg pain, and Lisa—my wife—took her to the doctor. They did blood tests.” He shook his head, like he was still having trouble believing it.
    I pushed the toe of my runner against the soft grass at the edge of the path and wondered what all this had to do with me.
    â€œShe had chemo, which was hell. But it seemed like it worked. She went into remission and we thought we’d beaten it, but this fall she relapsed. We almost lost her. We got a second remission, but the doctors say it won’t last. She needs a bone marrow transplant. Lisa and I were both tested, of course, but neither of us were a match. Lisa wanted to do in vitro fertilization, to try to have another child who could be a donor, but she had a lot of complications with her last pregnancy and, well, we didn’t know how much time we had. And then…” He cleared his throat. “Then I thought of you.”
    â€œThat’s a first,” I said.
    â€œYou don’t understand. Mandy has put me in an impossible…” He shook his head, frowning. “Never mind that for now.” He reached out and took my hand. “Listen. Casey’s best chance of survival is if we can find a donor who’s a good