The Organ Donor

         The door bell rang and Lenora got up to answer it. Three men were standing on the door step; her dog was going crazy. “We have an organ here for a Lenora Patton,” one of them spoke up, he was a rectangular shape compared to his more round colleagues. Her small dashund barked frantically at them.

         “I didn’t order an organ,” she looked at the quizzically, and stepped out of her house for a minute.

         “Well this one has your name on it. Are you sure you didn’t order it?” he asked. Lenora nodded timidly. No one had ordered an organ in the household that she knew of. Her grandmother was out at the store for a minute.

         “Okay, I don’t know where we’re going to put it,” she answered.

         “We can arrange that for you,” one of the other’s with large sausage fingers suggested.

         “Ah, okay, come on in I guess,” she said rubbing the back of her neck. This puzzled her; she didn’t order an organ nor want one for that matter. If she wanted anything it was a piano. Thinking to herself, Lenora reasoned that an organ is a start. It couldn’t hurt, it wasn’t like

learning to play the organ would be too much different than the piano, just the different set up and slightly different notes.

The men came in with the organ and put in her grandma’s kitchen. They offered to help Lenora clear a spot for it since they felt bad for bringing such a burden in on her. The best spot was in the living room, in the center of the house. It wasn’t like there was much room anywhere else. The movers helped her move things around and put the organ in place, or a least in the place where it would rest until her and her grandma could figure out how to get rid of it.  “Hope you enjoy the organ Miss,” he said getting ready to leave.

         “Wait, do you know who this is coming from?” she asked.

         “No, some old guy passed away and the bank was getting rid of his things,” he answered unsure of what happened.

         “That’s strange. Well have a nice day,” she said as they stepped out the door. The walking rectangle tipped his hat and proceeded to exit. Lenora stood there looking at the organ sitting among the cushioned furniture. It was a beautiful piece, but it also had a menacing feel to it, which made her a bit uneasy. She walked around to the back of the unit and plugged it in. When she turned the switch on, a humming noise erupted from the speakers. She tapped the keys and they sang very faintly. Something was clearly wrong with it as she noticed a small tendril of smoke curl out of one of the corners. Panicking Lenora quickly turned the organ off and unplugged it. Moments later the smoke cleared.

He sat at the old organ that had been sitting in the house for ages collecting dust. Something was definitely wrong with the old thing. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a problem,” he said turning around on the stool. “When was the last time you played it, and where did you get it?”  Lenora stood there for a moment in the living room with him before she answered him.

         “I have no clue, it was delivered to my house one day, when I was about eighteen and the most I’ve played with it was plugging it in and turning it on to see if it worked. The bank made a mistake and dumped it on me,” She explained.

         “Hmm, I see… well I’ll have to open her up and take a look. These kinds of things go bad the more they sit--doesn’t make sense really but that’s the beauty of organs. The more you play them the longer they’ll last.” he stood up and went around to the back and lifted it off. Lenora was now in her mid-twenties living alone in her grandmother’s house. The wealthy women had passed away when she was twenty. “Looks like some of the

wiring is all messed up… I’m surprised we didn’t blow something when I plugged it in.”

“Why’s that?” she asked.

         “It’s been rewired and whoever rewired it should get a swift kick in the ass,” he answered a little frustrated with some people’s utter stupidity when it came to organs.

         “Oh!” Lenora got up on the vinyl bench that came with it and peeked over the top watching him. He was bent down inspecting the interior when he looked up at her with his hazel eyes. She really had no clue about what was going on due to the fact that she knew nothing about electrical work. 

         “It’s definitely going to need some work. If I can drop by a few days a week I should have it fixed up in no time,” he answered standing up and straightening himself out pushing his dark brown hair out of his sparkling eyes.

         “I don’t mind, just as long as it gets back to working order. If not then no big loss, I can’t play anyways, I just wanted to learn,” she answered. The technician was a few inches taller than her, even in her high heels. For a guy who works on organs that belong in churches no matter how low budgeted; he was pretty handsome.

“I could arrange that, I also play the organ,” he paused for a moment as if wondering whether he’d sound pretentious if he were to go on. “Though it will take me a while to get used to the simple double key board

again,” he offered hesitantly. Lenora laughed slightly at his cute little smirk that played with the edges of his lips.

         “Well, thank you…but I don’t really have very much to pay you for the lessons, my writing hasn’t taken off yet. I suppose people aren’t into alien romance novels unless you are a super nerd,” she mumbled shamefully.

         “Its fine, I’ll be willing to give you lessons for a small cost. It’s the least I could do seeing as I’ll be spending most of my time here,” he answered.

         “I wouldn’t want to cause you any inconvenience in your business. What could I pay you?” she wondered aloud.

         “Don’t worry about it, I just do this on the side, perhaps brownies or some baked Alaska? I’d love a good baked Alaska. Anyways, I’m really a part time actor and I’m playing in a theatre band somewhere,” he answered surveying Lenora as if she were a piece of estate. Her eyes searched his features; finally she paused at his eyes. A shiver went up her spine. There was something about him that made her curious.

         “I must see you out, I’m late for an appointment, and I really can’t miss it. I’m sorry to rush you like this, but I will get back to you on the lessons,” she apologized as she realized what time it was.

“Alright, drive safe and I’ll call you regarding when we should start working on the organ,” he replied packing his things and heading for the door.

         “Drive safe yourself,” she winked stepping closer and stroking the lapel on his jacket. The organ technician stared at her wide eyed and open mouth as he slowly realized what was going on and gently moved her away with a hand on her waist.

         “Will do. Good day Miss,” he nodded, going out to his car.

Lenora got ready for her consultation appointment at the hospital, a dreaded place to go after a good day, but a necessary trip nonetheless. She needed a kidney and bad before it was too late. Her current kidney was doing double work and had now gone into kidney failure, however it’s increased in the past few months.

                  When she was ten years Lenora was diagnosed with some sort of kidney deformation and so they had to remove her kidney, causing her to now only have one. It was a very scary situation for both her parents and herself to have gone through when she was such a young age.

Now Lenora’s kidney has grown a cancerous cyst. Cancer: one of the number one diseases with no cure. If her kidney is not replaced with in the next few weeks Lenora could die very shortly due to kidney failure. Her doctor’s informed her that the tumour was too large for her kidney to function properly anymore.  She was too young for this and she had been on a waiting list for quiet a while and they’ve finally found a match after Lenora went through many sleepless nights.

         The drive was a long one even though the hospital wasn’t that far away; to Lenora it was hours. The scenery passed in slow motion as she made her way into the hospital and to the office to check in and ask them how long it would be before she was called. The doctor came out right away and called her into his office; he must have been waiting… like the angels of death so close to grabbing the life out of a young soul’s chest. Having a seat on the hard bed that was more like a bench then anything-- her surgeon and doctor discussed the procedure with her. “Miss Rowdy, we’ll assure you that the donor we have found is almost a perfect match to you. The likeliness of the kidney being rejected is decreased a great deal by the donor being a match. With help of medication we can assure that the foreign kidney will be accepted,” her doctor grinned at her as if this were the best possible kidney in the world for her.

         “The procedure will take about three or four hours. We will have both donor and recipient in close quarters so that the transplanted organ is fresh. It also ensures that the organ is still working. You can set up a date with the receptionist before you go. Do you want to know the name of the donor?” The surgeon asked her. Lenora wasn’t sure if she wanted to know her donor’s name right away, but she said that she would like to meet the donor after the transplant was finished. That was fine with the surgeon and the doctor so then it was set. Lenora was slotted in for a transplant next week.          

         Damien and Lenora were sitting in the living room on the organ bench when Damien stops her from attempting a scale. “Lenora what’s wrong with you today? You don’t seem quiet yourself lately,” he asked.

         “I’m dying slowly. My remaining kidney has a large cancerous tumour, and I’m a little nervous about the transplant. I guess I’m more scared that the transplant won’t work,” she answered sadly as a tear rolled down her check. Lenora couldn’t help but cry, she had just met him and was beginning to grow strong feelings for him and it could all be taken away with the blink of an eye.

         Damien reached up hesitantly and brushed the tears away. “Please don’t cry, I’m sure everything will turn out just fine.”

“I don’t know, I’ve been on a waiting list for a transplant for so long that it almost seems like I’ll end up dying before I get adjusted to the new kidney,” she sniffled as she looked up through her lashes at him. Damien put his arms around her and embraced her until she settled down and stopped crying. It had been two weeks since they had first met but they had become fairly good friends.

Transplant day rolled around and Lenora was growing nervous. Damien was the organ technician and had to leave at the same time she had to, once again. It was kind of strange but it didn’t surprise Lenora, one bit because it has happened before when they had to leave at the same time. The

doctors were waiting nervously for her at the hospital ready to get on with the procedure and be done with it. With in an hour Lenora was under the knife, getting her bad kidney removed, her donor was also getting their kidney harvested for the transplant. Once she was ready for the new kidney

the doctors transferred the organ into her body. Her donor was being stitched up beside her while the rest of the team of surgeons were working to properly hook up the functioning kidney.

         It took a little bit for the sedative to wear off but once she was done in the operating room she was put into the same room as her donor. When they woke up Lenora was shocked to see that it was her organ technician, Damien. “Lenora?” he asked.

         “Damien? How strange?” she answered.

         “Lenora, I’m your organ donor,” he almost sang in a sleepy voice as a sleepy smile played across his face. Tears sprang to Lenora’s eyes as she smiled back at him. What were the odds of her organ technician being her organ donor? The last thing she said to him before she fell asleep was:

         “Damion, I don’t know how to thank you. It means so much to me,” then her eyelids flickered as she started to drift a bit.

         “Lenora, will you please go to dinner with me?” he asked.

         “Yes,” she whispered as she fell back into a deep sleep. Lenora and Damien met and became partners in their journey through fixing an old organ to replacing one.