CHAPTER 42: THE NEXT HOUR WAS THE LONGEST OF LEO’S LIFE. ⁄⁠(⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠)⁠⁄

The next hour was the longest of Leo’s life...

The silence in the living room was a physical presence, thick and heavyweighted. Sarah’s mother busied herself in the kitchen, the clinking of coffee cups and the running of water sounding unnaturally loud...

It was an unnatural attempt to do something, anything, to feel useful in a situation where she was utterly helpless. Sarah’s father sat stiffly on the couch, his hands clasped between his knees, staring at the blank TV screen as if it held the answers to their problems...

Sarah didn’t leave Leo’s side at all. She sat on the floor by his chair, leaning against his leg, her hand resting on his knee...

She was very quiet, and her breathing was shallow. Leo didn’t move, his focus narrowed to the second hand on his phone’s clock, watching it tick away the minutes with excruciating slowness...

He felt a strange disconnect, as if he were watching a scene from a movie. This couldn’t be his life. Just two days ago, his biggest worry was a surprise sleepover. Now, the word ’transplant’ was echoing in his mind...

He felt Sarah’s hand tighten on his knee, and he looked down at her. Her eyes were fixed on him, filled with a terrifying mix of fear, hope and absolute trust...

She was looking to him to be her anchor, and he knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that he could not let her down... He placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. It was a small gesture, but to them it was a silent promise that he was still there...

When the clock on his phone finally showed that an hour had passed, Leo took a deep and steadying breath... He picked up the phone, his movements were deliberately filled with urgency... Sarah’s parents stopped what they were doing and turned to watch him, their faces covered with anxiety...

He dialed the number for the Yamada Hospital’s cardiology department. He put the phone on speaker again, the sound of the ringing tone filling the tense silence...

"Yamada Hospital, Cardiology. How can I direct your call?" a feminine and professional voice answered...

"Hello," Leo said, his voice even out. "I’m calling to schedule an initial consultation for a new patient, Sarah Sakura. We have an urgent referral from Dr. Katana for Dr. Aoki."

"One moment, please." There was the sound of typing. "Okay, I see the referral from Dr. Katana’s office. Let me check Dr. Aoki’s schedule." More typing and finger clicks. "The doctor has a very full schedule, sir. Her next available new patient consultation is in three weeks."

Leo’s heart sank, making his shoulder drop. "Three weeks is not going to work," he exclaimed, his voice firm, leaving no room for argument. "Dr. Katana marked this as urgent. The patient is symptomatic. We need to be seen this week."

There was a slight pause on the other end. "Sir, as I said, the doctor is fully booked."

"Then I need you to speak with her," Leo insisted, his politeness dying out. "Tell her the patient is Sarah Sakura. Tell her the referral is for advanced dilated cardiomyopathy with a recent incident of hemoptysis. Tell her Dr. Katana believes she is a potential transplant candidate who needs immediate evaluation. Please, just give her that message."

The receptionist sighed, a sound of weary resignation. "Hold on."

The line went quiet for a minute, filled only by the tinny sound of the hold Hospital music. Leo’s leg bounced nervously. Sarah squeezed his hand harder. Her mother was holding her breath, her hand pressed to her mouth...

Minutes passed by. Finally, the receptionist came back on the line. Her tone had changed. It was softer now, more compassionate.

"Sir? Dr. Aoki was in with another patient, but I was able to get your message to her nurse. The doctor has a cancellation for tomorrow morning. Can you be here at 10 a.m.?"

A collective wave of relief washed through the house. It was so palpable, Leo could almost feel it in his bones...

"Yes," Leo said, his voice thick with emotion. "Yes, we can. We’ll be there. 10 a.m."

"Okay, Mr...?"

"Leo. My name is Leo Kuroko."

"Okay, Leo. I have Sarah Sakura scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow with Dr. Aoki. You’ll need to arrive about thirty minutes early to fill out new patient paperwork. Please bring her insurance information and a list of all her current medications."

"We will," Leo uttered. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

He ended the call and let his head fall back against the chair, closing his eyes for a second. It was done. They had a plan. A terrifying, uncertain plan, but a plan nonetheless...

He opened his eyes and looked at the three faces staring back at him in hope and disbelief. Sarah’s father had tears in his eyes, his stern facade completely gone. Her mother was crying openly now, but they were tears of relief, not despair...

And Sarah... she was just looking at him. Her expression was one of overwhelming gratitude...

"What do we do now?" she asked, her tone was soft...

Leo stood up, pulling her gently to her feet. He looked at her parents, then back at her.

The path ahead of them was scary and unknown even to him, but this time, they were all facing it from the same side.

"Now," he said, his voice filled with a resolve he hadn’t known he possessed. "We get ready."

The hours after the phone call were strange and stilted...

They have a plan, as terrifying as it was, it had been made, and now there was nothing to do but wait...

The house, which had been filled with a suffocating and uneasy tension all around, now felt more like a waiting room... Sarah’s mother insisted on making lunch, moving around the kitchen with a frantic energy that was more about keeping her hands busy than preparing a meal...