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The next day the three of them were in the Doc's office to talk about Earl's disease.

"So what should we do, Doc?" Wade asked already preoccupied after Zoe explained to him what exactly his dad had. The two of them were sitting on the patients' chairs while the doctor was behind her desk.

"We can try drugs" she answered and then cautiously added "but transplant would be the best cure considering your father's condition"

"Transplant. You mean the kind of surgery in which my dad gets the liver of a dead man?"

"No, actually what we're talking about here is ex vivo transplant" the woman explained entering into full doctor mode "which means a relative could donate Earl part of his liver. Usually the donor is a parent, a son or a sibling who has the same blood type of the receiver"

Wade looked blankly at Zoe and then at his father. He stood up and walked nervously around the office. After a certain amount of time spent pondering the two alternatives he finally spoke again.

"After the transplant, is he gonna be ok?"

"There's gonna be a period of recovery from the surgery in which there's the risk of the reject by his body of the new liver, then he'll be healthy. Of course he'll need to quit drinking alcoholic beverages and follow a strict diet. Transplant is not easy but it is effective."

Wade he breathed a sigh of relief and stopped wandering around the office. He leaned on a cupboard next to the doctor's desk and crossed his arms.

"We'll talk about it more later on. We need to find a donor first" both Earl and Zoe looked at Wade somehow expectantly.

"Oh. Right. Doc you said you need a donor with the same blood type as Earl" Zoe nodded "I ain't got that" he shook his head.

"What? Are you sure?" He nodded. When he was younger he had to do a research for school about the blood groups of his family and from that he learnt he had the same blood type as his mother. On the other hand, his brother... he couldn't was taken aback by the revelation. She relied on the fact that the donor would be Wade. Since he couldn't, what would they do? As far as she knew, Earl had no brothers nor sisters and obviously his parents weren't alive anymore so the only one left was...

"Jesse" as the old man said his other son's name it suddenly hit her.

"That's right Earl! Wade do you happen to know if your brother has the same blood type(?) as Earl?"

"I guess" Wade expected that. He shifted uncomfortably his weight from side to side "but he's an eco-geo-whatever, the poor guy's probably even too scared of needles, it's a lost cause"

"Don't talk like that about your brother" Earl scolded him

"You should give him a call..." Zoe suggested as she patted Wade's shoulder and looked at him right in the eyes, trying to tell him silently that if he didn't, he would lose his father just as he'd lost his mother years before. One thing was however different: he couldn't have saved his mom in any way but he now had the chance to save his dad.

"Hey, it's Wade"

"Hey little brother, what's up? Problems with the girl you have a crush on even if you say you hate her?"

Wade hung up slamming the handset on the phone. He swore and dialled his brother's number again.

"Damn you Jesse"

"Was joking, you didn't need to shut the call so abruptly"

"Wade how many times have I told you not to use the Jammer's phone for your private calls?" Lemon hit him on the arm with a cloth as she passed by.

"Shut up Lemon" he retorted and then he refocused on his brother at the other end of the line "Jesse. I called because I need to tell you something"

"Sure, what's up in the south?" his brother answered without a clue.

"I prefer not to tell you over the phone, can you come here?"

"I'm in Hawaii for work Wade, I'm not back till the end of next week"

"Oh" Wade didn't know if he should tell him or wait, but then thought about what Zoe had told them about the importance of not wasting any time "Earl his not in his best shape"

"What happened to the old man?" He was starting to worry and Wade's serious voice didn't really reassure him.

"He's got cirrhosis and he needs a liver transplant" the bartender sighed "I'm not compatible but I think you are" it bugged him a lot that he had always been there to take care of his father all these years while his brother fought for America and studied and became a Eco-Geological Oceanographer but now that cirrhosis was really threatening Earl's life Wade couldn't help him while Jesse could. It felt to Wade like he wasn't even good at protecting ad helping his father which was almost the only noteworthy thing he did in his life. Jesse had always been the good one and he was going to be seen that way again as he returned home to save his father from death. Such a shame for Wade, such a glory for Jesse. Just like old times.
"I see" Jesse briefly commented "sorry Wade I really have to go now, we'll talk more soon I promise"
"No wait!" It was too late, he had already hung up "Jesse?" He received no answer except for the beep beep of the phone so he hung up, too. He came back to the bar and punched at the bar counter, angry at his brother for always putting himself first.

"What can I get you?" Wade asked George as he sat on a stool.
"Waffles and a cup of coffee, thanks" he smiled.
"okay" he reported the order to the cook and turned back to face his guest "How was the tour with Lily Anne?"
"Oh it was great! We went to really cool places and I also learned to play guitar in the meantime" George was really excited about the tour and his bartender friend was happy for him. Actually, he was hoping they could put behind them the disagreements caused by Zoe and be true friends like they were before it all happened.
As Wade served George his breakfast Lemon went to them.
"Wade" she called him, a tone of reproach in her voice.
"Lemon" the two men both greeted her. However, as they saw the expression on her face, George quickly excused himself telling he had someone to meet, took his meal and sat at a table far enough away to not have to hear lemon yell, but close enough to hear what she said. Wade, suddenly alone, feeling Lemon's eyes on him turned to her and asked her what was going on.
"You have no right to treat me like you did this morning"
"What are you referring to?" He couldn't remember anything bad he'd done to her. Okay, maybe they did have some - many - arguments in the past, as there had always been between them since they were children. And he may have treated her not so gentlemanly but well neither had she. Yes, they probably wanted to drown each other sometimes but they were still friends, co-workers and co-owners of the Rammer Jammer. They managed to put up with one another fairly well.
"That phone" she pointed at the telephone of the bar "is not for personal calls"
"I know, we decided that rule together, remember?"
"Then why were you using it to call your brother?" She raised her arms, expecting a consistent answer from his co-worker.

"I forgot my cellphone at home, okay? It was just one time" Wade shrugs.

"Then don't yell at me to shut up when we both know I am right!" She scolded him again.

"So it was all about that" he nodded understandingly. She was right, he didn't treat her very well in that moment "I'm sorry 'bout that, I didn't mean to. It's just..." He trailed off, hoping she would let go but she didn't, obviously.

"Is there a problem with your brother?" She asked sweetly, not angry anymore but curious and a bit preoccupied for her friend.

"No, not with him" he admitted. He really didn't want to talk about it to anyone – except maybe Zoe – because then all the town would know and pity him. Pity was something Wade Kinsella couldn't stand and it didn't go unnoticed, just as he didn't like to be taken care of. He remembered when he got the flu and wandered in town, infecting also the townspeople. Then Zoe had been able to take care of him and he liked that. Zoe, he thought. Now that she was back to stay, what would happen between them? Would she ever be able to really trust him again? She said she was trying, what if she couldn't anymore? Then he was going to lose her forever even if he didn't want to.

"Is it your dad?" Lemon shook a hand in front of him to snap him back to reality.

He needed to choose: he could lie and tell her everything was okay so she wouldn't ask questions or he could he could be sincere and admit his father was going to die. No, he corrected himself, he was not gonna die, he would heal because Wade would do anything Earl needed to help him. He swore he would.

"Yeah, he's sick" he sighed. He really needed a friend to talk to so he decided not to lie.

"How sick?"

"Cirrhosis. He needs a transplant, I'm not compatible but Jesse is" he said, a hint of disdain in his voice and briefly explained the whole situation. Lemon felt bad, her worried expression was replaced by a sad one. So that's what he was talking about with his brother over the phone, she realized. Wade noticed and quickly added "enough with the pity, Breeland, I don't need it. Let's simply put our little discussion behind us, shall we?"

"Ok, but let me say I'm sorry for your dad, if you need anything I'm always here for you" she smiled sweetly.

"Thanks" he replied awkwardly "we should get back to work now" he said and went over to a strange costumer who was waiting impatiently at the end of the bar. He had a cap pulled down on his head so that his face couldn't be seen and he was rolling a coin with his fingers on the counter. He seemed familiar, though.

"What can I get you sir?"

The guy took off his cap and Wade noticed that it had 'Hawaii' written on the front. Then he spoke.

"Wade, It's me"

"Jesse?"

Look who's back!

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