“You can register, but if you’re a match, the actual donation procedure can only happen twelve months after the tattoo.”

I pulled away from Aster and stumbled out of the room into the corridor, vision blurred by tears, until I reached Jimi’s room.

The moment I saw Simone, I collapsed into her arms. Jimi was still asleep. And then I cried—a muffled cry, terrified he might wake and see me like this. I wanted to scream. I wanted to thrash. I wanted to die. But I couldn’t—because my ...