"Lucky!" Loni cheered again just as the dog saw her and started trying to jump out the slightly open window. "Oh my gosh! Oh, I'm so happy to see you too, my boy!"

"Stay calm!" Luca was rushing up to the truck.

"You talking to Loni or the dog?" Kit teased.

"Both." Luca tossed Loni a smile and then carefully opened the door, grabbing Lucky's leash to prevent him from jumping at her.

He jerked and whined, wanting at her, but Luca held tight until he calmed enough and then walked him over to a very anxious Loni.

"Oh, Lucky, my sweet old boy! I missed you so much!" She leaned down to pet him and tug his ears as he likes, and he grunted with happiness at her affections. "Did you miss me too?"

"Sure seems like he did!" Stone said as he got out of the truck to join them.

"Of course he did; you're his favorite person." Luca was smiling softly.

"And Lucky is my favorite thing ever." She spoke directly to Lucky as she began to scratch under his chin. "I'm going to be better soon, good boy, okay? I know you miss sleeping with me. I miss you too! My little feet warmer, you."

She felt happier than she had in days as she cooed at him and pet him. She still felt so awful about what they had to do to fix her heart, but the thought of spending time with Lucky again was helping her feel better about it.

She could even envision Lucky running through that flower field with her.

"Manny's been taking really good care of him," Stone knelt to give Lucky a pat on the head.

"Where is Manny?" Loni asked curiously.

"He and his mom are at the church. Your dad didn't want the food in the walk-in at Leo's to go to waste. What we couldn't freeze, we're donating," Stone explained.

"Oh, that's great, Dad! What a good idea!" Kit, enthused, she's knelt and started petting Lucky along with Loni. He loved the attention, and his tongue was flopping around happily.

"It was Manny's idea."

"He is a a good kid," Luca murmured.

"Isn't he?" Kit agreed.

"You lucked out. Could've been stuck with a Kyle," Stone told Luca.

"I did luck out. I deserved to get stuck with a Kyle," Luca chuckled.

"Oh, there's still Lissa, don't worry, I'm sure she'll bring home some real fun ones for ya," Stone offered, and her mom snorted back laughter.

"Can't wait," Luca said dryly.

Loni couldn't stop grinning. Her dad really liked Manny; and it felt so good to know that. It warmed her heart to picture them being close someday, just like her dad and grandpa.

She felt like her smile would burst off her face at that point.

🌹🌹🌹

Lissa had spent most of the day in the on-call room. Her mom and dad planned to talk to Loni about the heart transplant today. She knew it would be a hard conversation for everyone and thought it best to stay out of the way.

She hopped off the top bunk bed, landing softly on her feet. Grabbing a few bills from her dad's wallet, she left the room to head to the vending machines.

As she stepped into the corridor, she noticed the door to the old lab that Gus told her should hide in was slightly ajar. Curiosity got the better of her, and she quietly stepped into the room. She saw Gus in the corner with his head down.

"Uncle Gus? You okay?"

He jumped slightly as he turned towards her; she saw right away that his eyes were puffy and his cheeks were stained from recent tears. "I uh, sorry - should've shut the door. I didn't mean for anyone to find me in here."

"You don't have to be sorry for crying." She said as she walked towards him. "Everyone cries. Even my dad."

He blew his nose and let out a long sigh. "Doctors aren't supposed to. We're supposed to stay professional, respectful and kind but detached."

"Kind of impossible when it's family," Lissa commented.

"Kind of impossible always," he confessed. "I always get attached to my patients."

"I would too, I think," she said thoughtfully. "But if I was a patient. I would want the doctors to care about me. More reason to want to fix me."

Gus let out a small laugh, "we always care."

"You know what I meant!" Lissa gave him a look. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he said with a wry smile. "But, I don't think you're going away, are you, little Ninja Girl?

"Nope," she chirped as she flopped down in a chair beside him.  She found herself smiling at the pet name. "Ninja Girl is here to listen, like it or not."

 "I suppose I should distract you, and keep the vending machines safe." 

She rolled her eyes at that.  "Is it London and what's going to happen to her that's got you upset?"

"A little, I don't go see her much anymore, but I'm sad I won't be able to soon," he admitted. "But more so, I'm relieved for her. She can finally find peace this way. Loni can have a chance at a long life. It's the best thing that could've happened. For everyone, but, my mom."

"You're worried about her?"

"Very," Gus confirmed. "She stunned me by agreeing to it, but when it happens.... When London is gone— I don't know what will happen to her."

"She's family, so we'll help her. All of us," Lissa offered.

"I don't know how receptive she'll be to that or if your mom would even want that."

"My mom will want to help her, even though she hurt her. That's  how she is."

"Yeah, I can see she has a big heart. That's how London was too. Why can't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"My girlfriend broke up with me today," he said. "Because I didn't care enough about her. How can I care so much about my patients and let my own relationship just die?"

She frowned as she considered what to say.

"The hell am I doing? You're thirteen. This conversation is way too heavy for you."

"Is not!" She scoffed. "Ugh, I hate thirteen. It's always, you're not old enough, but then also you're old enough to know better." 

"It's not a fun age," Gus agreed. "Still, I can't be venting to you about all this. It's too much."

"I'm almost fourteen anyway, and I do sort of understand girlfriends and boyfriends and all that. But—"

"But what?"

"Don't tell anyone; I haven't told anyone yet." She turned to make sure no one was standing in the doorway.

"Tell anyone what?"

"I don't like... um, I think I like girls." She felt her cheeks flushing as she confessed it.

"Oh," his eyebrows raised in surprise, but then he gave her a gentle smile. "It's okay; you don't have to be embarrassed about that."

His face was honest and genuine and suddenly this enormous thing she'd been holding in didn't seem so big and bad anymore. Her nerves eased up as she let out a breath. "I just...guys are so gross, but I don't know, I'm kind of confused. I was going to talk to my Aunt Carly cause she's really cool, but then all this stuff happened with Loni."

"Well, I'm honored that you talked to me. If you like girls, that's okay, it doesn't change who you are, it just becomes another layer of you. And if you're not sure that's okay too; it's all part of growing up. People are fluid, always changing and growing, we don't stay the same, but discovering who you are, and what you want is what life is all about. Don't ever be embarrassed by it."

"Do you think my mom and dad would be okay with it?"

"From what I know about them so far, I do, yeah. You got a good family; they're going to support you."

"I don't want to dump it on them now with Loni and stuff."

"Your mom let me vent about Jenny one night. She said the distraction from thinking about Loni helped her a little."

"She did?"

"She did, and she's always worried about you," Gus said. "The last thing she wants is you feeling like you can't go to her right now. She'll welcome a talk with you. I know she will."

"I don't know..." she said nervously.

"I thought you were a fearless ninja girl? Do I have to take the nickname back?"

"Don't you dare!" She jumped up and did a spin kick in the air. "Or I'll show you how ninja-like I can be."

"Careful my face is too pretty for bruises," he ducked out of the way.

She giggled at that as she flopped back down in her chair.

"You're crazy if you don't think you have a big heart like my mom and your sister," Lissa told him, her chest tightening with emotion. "I was so scared to tell anyone that and you made me feel so much better."

"But—"

"But nothing. Plus if you didn't care about your girlfriend, why you crying?"

"Guilt mostly. I hate that I broke her heart," he confessed. "I hate that the only way I could fix it, would be a lie. I don't want to be with her. So she just has to be hurt and it just has to be my fault."

"I do understand that! It's kind of like when I know I shouldn't do something, but do it anyway," she mused. "My dad and mom get disappointed in me and I feel bad. But—I can't help myself sometimes."

 "Not following your train of thought there, Ninja Girl."

"Okay so it's not exactly the same but the bad feeling is, I guess. It'll go away though. It always does for me, usually as soon as I'm done being grounded."'

He tilted his head back and laughed heartily. "You sound like me when I was kid. I was always acting out, and London was perfect making me seem even worse."

"Yeah we're twins," Lissa agreed. "So same. I can't see you being a bad kid though."

"I stopped acting out when I realized I wanted to be a doctor like my dad," Gus explained. "Turns out I just needed something to focus on."

"Huh," she mumbled. "Maybe that's what I need to."

"Do you know what you do when you grow up?"

"I never thought about it," she mused. "But I sure like watching all you doctors running around like crazy. Maybe I'll be a doctor."

"If you do decide to do that, I'll help you."

"Really?"

"Of course, that's what uncles are for."

"Thanks," she stood and held her arms out and he looked at her funny.

"You got a lot to learn about our family, Uncle Gus, we're huggers," Lissa said firmly. "Now get over here!"

He shook his head with a chuckle but stood to embrace her. She felt a hundred times better than she had earlier. Like a whole weight came off her shoulders.

Suddenly she wasn't so scared to talk to her mom anymore.