The sound of the garage door opening came just after 10 p.m. It prompted both A.J. and J.D. to leap off the couch and go to the kitchen. When the kitchen door opened, Deuce walked in first. He did not acknowledge his brothers. He brushed back with his head down and arms crossed over his blood-tinged undershirt.

"Is everything okay?" A.J. asked his parents as soon as they appeared in the doorway.

His father was taken aback by the reception. He looked at his oldest son at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out.

"There was an accident," offered his mother, interjecting. She looked at her husband for corroboration.

"Yes, Timmy Watkins passed away today," he said tentatively. "Look, boys, it's been a long night. We can talk more about this in the morning. For now, J.D., you're going to sleep in A.J.'s room. I'll be up with the cot in a few minutes."

"Head upstairs and get ready for bed," added mom, motioning with her right hand to the stairs.

The boys complied, but barely, moving slowly to the stairway. A.J. led the way and, once they turned the corner, he made a beeline up the stairs for his bedroom. J.D. lingered at the bottom of the stairs and listened intently. A moment passed and he peeked around the corner. His mother broke down crying and buried her head in her husband's chest. Don held his wife tight and had a look of consternation as he stared over her head at nothing in particular.

Derrick could see 13-year-old J.D. watching his parents in the kitchen. He watched his younger self wrap his arms around his knees and gently rock on the bottom stair. He was visibly scared, and the sight of his parents once again brought those feelings back in a wave.

Suddenly there was an ascending chime. The same four notes over and over again.

Derrick's eyes remained closed as he rolled over and reached for his phone without looking. It was always in the same spot, so he had little trouble instinctively finding it to end the ringing. He opened his eyes and looked at the screen. It was a familiar number, but he could not place it. His mind was in a fog at the moment. He answered the phone and closed his eyes once more.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Derrick? It's Dr. Caldwell. How are you feeling this morning?"

Derrick perked up at the sound of his doctor's voice. He'd been anticipating a call and was hopeful of what it could mean.

"Good morning. I just woke up, but I've been feeling pretty good lately," he replied. "All things considered."

"That's good to hear," the doctor replied. "I know we have an appointment later this week, but I have some news on the donor front."

Derrick rolled to the edge of the bed. He swung his feet onto the floor, readying himself for whatever news there was. They had just held a second "Be the Match" donor drive. He wondered how it went and if a match could come this fast. He wanted to be prepared in case it turned out to be as fruitless as the first.

"I'm guessing the donor drive didn't find anyone."

"No, you're right, I'm sorry," the doctor offered. "But, fortunately, that's not what I'm calling about."

"Fortunately?" Derrick blurted out.

"Yes, we've found a match another way," Dr. Caldwell said, his tone denoting a smile on his face.

Derrick sat in stunned silence as tears started to trickle down his face.

"Still there, Derrick?" he asked after a moment.

"Mm-hmm," he grunted back.

"We found a match in Tacoma. They got tested for a friend of theirs, but it was not a match. Meanwhile, someone from the match drive matched their friend. The donor agreed to go through with the donation since it was your drive that yielded their friend's match."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Derrick was only half paying attention to the details and was a little lost in the explanation.

"Long story short, Derrick, we have a donor and a surgery scheduled for six weeks from Sunday. We did it!"

Derrick was now openly sobbing. A weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he finally had real hope. He'd attempted an optimistic facade for A.J. and Jenna's benefit, but was losing faith rather quickly. They were not fooled.

"I know this is a lot to take in," the doctor said, realizing he was carrying the conversation. "My office will follow up with more details."

With that, the doctor hung up. Derrick dropped his phone and rested his face in his hands. He'd slept horribly, but the news had certainly invigorated him. It took about 45 minutes for everything to sink it. In that time, he got dressed and utilized a newfound appetite to eat a good breakfast for the first time in weeks. He was cleaning his dishes when he remembered he needed to spread the news.

A.J. was his first call. He had a feeling his older brother would cry, but it would be a lot less than Jenna. He wanted to ease himself into that.

"You've reached the voicemail of A.J. Collins. Leave a message and I will give you a call back."

"Dammit," Derrick said to himself, waiting for the beep. He then left a short message, "A.J. call me back."

He looked at his phone again and decided he needed to talk to someone about this and called Jenna.

"Morning," his little sister said brightly after two rings.

After some short pleasantries, he told her the news.

"Dr. Caldwell called, and we have a donor," he said quickly.

Jenna let out a shriek of excitement and started crying tears of joy into the phone. It was infectious and he was more emotional now than when he'd first heard the news. Derrick told her everything he knew, twice, taking a break when she told Trent everything as he walked by.

"Six weeks? That's right after the wedding," she said. "That's great! What did A.J. say?"

"I got his voicemail," Derrick said, slightly irritated.

They wrapped up the call shortly after that, reaffirming plans for dinner in a couple of days. The call ended after one final shriek of joy.

After hanging up, Derrick slouched into the couch with a smile on his face. He received a boost of excitement from talking with his sister. This had been the happiest he'd been since the accident, even trumping an hour earlier when he first heard the news. He was still smiling when he drifted off to sleep.

Derrick walked into the bathroom, hardly noticing anything around him. He went straight to the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. He then grabbed blindly for a hand towel and dried his face.

He then let out a deep breath and looked up into the mirror.

The face looking back at him didn't seem to match his own, but he did not seem to notice. He began looking at his face, running his hand across his smooth chin. It was when he felt his unkempt beard and not the clean-shaven face, he also saw that something seemed not right.

He studied the face in the mirror. He was missing the scar above his left eye from a basketball injury. The hair was just a bit darker and short. Longer than before he started growing it out, but short and parted to the side.

The expression of confusion matched his own until it didn't. The confusion shifted into a stern look of disapproval. Derrick splashed more water on his face. He was nervous about facing his reflection in the mirror again. He slowly dried his face again before raising his head to meet his reflected gaze. His eyes met his eyes and were then drawn to a scar above his left eye. His attention darted around the face in the mirror and when he saw an unkempt beard, he exhaled in relief.

There was a knock at his apartment door and he turned to face the sound.

There was another knock, and he was startled awake. It took a moment to become aware of his surroundings and there came a third knock. He rose and crossed the room to answer the door. When he opened the door, A.J. stood there with a big smile on his face and his arms spread wide. He gave his little brother a quick hug and entered the apartment.

"You didn't answer your phone," A.J. started, settling in the middle of the room. "I was already close by, so I figured I'd come over."

Derrick was surprised to see his brother and remained in a stunned silence.

"Sorry I missed your call. Jenna texted, 'Call JD' with, like, six happy emojis. I got your voicemail three times, so I called her. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great," Derrick offered, shaking out a fog from his head. "I dozed off on the couch and, uh, I'm not sure where my phone is exactly," he said looking around the room.

The two sat down in the living room on the couch and an adjacent chair. Derrick filled in A.J. on all the details. Much of the information was already relayed from Jenna. There were some details lost in translation.

Derrick's expression did not match the moment and that was not lost on A.J.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," he replied, putting on a smile. "It's just been a lot to take in and I slept like garbage last night."

A.J. looked at his brother skeptically but could see no reason to doubt his brother.

"The news has given me a crazy appetite today," Derrick said in a more familiar tone, "You want to get lunch?"

"Sounds good."

Derrick put on some clean clothes and the two left the apartment. He blocked out the disconcerting dreams. He allowed the good news to drive his mood and enjoyed a celebratory lunch with his brother.