My Sister Skipped My Wedding for a "Business Trip" — Two Weeks Later, I Found Out Where She Really Went

"He found my number through an old friend of Mom's," Rachel said. "He was sick. Kidney failure. He'd been on dialysis for two years. He needed a transplant, and he'd run out of options."

"So he called you?"

"He called to ask if either of us would get tested." She looked down at her hands. "I said I'd think about it. Then I went and got tested without telling anyone."

"Rachel—"

"I was a match, Lily. A really good match."

I felt like the room was tilting.

"The surgery date was the Friday before your wedding," she said. "It was the only date they had. If he waited longer, the doctors said he might not make it."

"You could have told me."

"Could I?" She looked at me, and her eyes were wet. "You were nine when he left. You were the one who waited by the window every Sunday for a year. You were the one who stopped eating. I watched all of it."

I didn't answer. I couldn't.

"You were finally happy," she said. "You had Ben. You had the wedding. I wasn't going to make your wedding week about him. He didn't deserve to take that from you too."

"So you gave him a kidney," I said slowly, "and let everyone think you were selfish."

"I didn't care what everyone thought." She wiped her face. "I only cared about you."

I sat there, trying to breathe.

Then she said the thing I wasn't ready for.

"He asked about you, Lily. Every single day in the hospital." She hesitated. "And he gave me something to bring you."