ALLY:

I woke up several hours after the transplant and Trish walked in, while Jace, her boyfriend, followed her. Trish was wearing a pink onesie from Juicy Couture (one of her favorite stores in the world) and she had Cheetah print ugg boots. My friend Trish had almost a fetish for animal print and other flamboyant prints. Her black hair was flat and her ends were curled and she had small diamond stud earrings in her ears, and she had her marijuana leaf necklace on (Trish loved marijuana, whether it was the drug or even marijuana print. Thankfully, that and alcohol were the only drugs she did) and I gave her that necklace for christmas last year and she was holding a Starbucks cup in her hand. Jace had one in his hand as well, and a red and white polka dot walgreens bag.

I was still a little groggy from my anesthesia and I whispered,

"Hi, Trish. Hi, Jace."

Jace said to me,

"How you doing, Ally?"

"I'm good. I have a little bit of a backache and stomach ache, but I'm fine. After all, I just had my kidney replaced."

Trish said,

"That sucks. I feel really bad about what you've been through, so I brought you some treats."

She took the bag off of Jace, and she handed it to me. I found a small pink envelope. Everytime someone gave me a gift, I looked for a card because I thought it was common courtesy to do the card before digging in to the gifts. The card said, Thinking of you during this shitty time. Her message that she had written inside said,

Dear Ally,

I'm sorry for what you're going though. Lupus can go fuck itself. You're my best friend. You always have been ever since the day we met in kindergarten when I gave that boy a wedgie for stealing your cookie during snack time. Just because I'm a bitch to you sometimes doesn't mean I don't love you. I love you like a drug dealer loves crack.

Love, Trish.

I laughed. No one other than Trish would write me a sweet message and then incorporate it with sexual or alcohol or drug undertones. But in her case, it was fine and it was the thought that counted. I said,

"Aww, Trish. That's so sweet of you."

Trish said to me,

"Oh, Mami, there's more. Créeme."

I looked in the bag and I found a box of thirty Crayola twistable pencils, a color me stress free adult coloring book, a pink, yellow and blue stuffed Alpaca, a stuffed Panda Bear, an Amazon gift card for fifty dollars, and a frame that she had made and decorated herself with pictures of us from when we first met until now. I teared up a little looking at the frame she'd made and I said,

"Thank you, Trish. But you didn't have to do all this."

Trish came around the side of the hospital bed I was laying in and allowed me to hug her.

"Have to? I wanted to. You're sick and you're dealing with this shit. You need to be spoiled."

I said,

"My kidney was failing and I had to get a kidney transplant. You're never going to believe who donated his kidney to me."

"Who donated his kidney to you?"

"Austin Moon."

Trish looked excited for me.

"Austin Moon? Like the guy you crushed hard on during ninth grade and the guy who was captain of the wrestling team and the swim team?"

Jace piped in.

"Wow, this guy was on the wrestling team and on the swim team?"

I sighed dreamfully at the mental image of Austin's muscles and six-pack. That guy was beyond sexy and hot. I felt like some twelve-year-old crushing on a boy for the first time. I said,

"Yeah. He's also going to school to be a physical education teacher, he works at Dick's Sporting Goods and he's a single father, raising a toddler."

Trish smiled at me as she pulled Jace's arm over her shoulder and allowed him to kiss her on her cheekbone.

"How did you two meet?"

Jace asked me,

"How did you meet him?"

I said,

"Well, it was a time when my anxiety was boiling over, and it was after class. I was in the hall and some pervert was catcalling me. He was making sexual comments about my ass and breasts and he was even going so far as to reach in my tank top and bra and touch my boobs and I had to tell him twice to stop, and he finally did when Austin stepped in to stop it. I had a big panic attack and I broke down and he brought me to the ER and calmed me down."

Jace said,

"Well, you know he's a good guy if he's a feminist."

Trish smiled at her boyfriend and they kissed a little on the lips.

"That's why I love you, Jacey."

He kissed Trish on the cheek. Jace said to me,

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have a little something for you, Ally."

He reached into the pocket of his black hoodie and handed me a Hot Topic gift card for fifty dollars. Jace still worked at Hot Topic, where he and Trish met. I said,

"Thank you, Jace."

"You're welcome. Like Trish, I feel bad about what you've had to go through, so hopefully this makes it better."

I said,

"It does. Thank you, Jace."

I rose from my hospital bed and gave Jace a tight embrace. Trish labeled me as her sister because according to her, I was the closest thing she'd ever have to a sister. She labeled Jace as my would-be "brother-in-law." Later after Trish and Jace left, a doctor came in. He smiled at me and he asked me,

"Are you Allison Dawson?"

I said,

"Yes."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine, thank you."

"I just have to go over a few things with you. Your old kidney was failing, which is why you needed a kidney transplant. Who was your donor?"

"Austin Moon was my donor. He had his kidney replaced as well."

"OK, your donor was Austin Moon. For your recovery time, which should take no more than about three to eight weeks. You must abstain from exercise, except for walking, and don't lift anything heavier than ten pounds. "

"No more than ten pounds, OK."

"The same will go for Mr. Moon. He'll have to spend two days in the hospital, and for him, it'll take about six weeks to recover."

He asked me,

"Lift up your gown, please. I have to check for a scar on your body."

I got out from under the blanket and bedding of the hospital bed and lifted up my gown, revealing a purplish-red scar on my stomach.

"No signs of intestinal bleeding, which is good."

He handed me a sheet and he said,

"Read the sheet and you should be fine."

Chapter 12 down! I hope you all enjoyed! Favorite, follow and review if you like the story! Love you al