Behind the Shadows by Patricia; Potter Page B

which was by far the most important, but the latter kept intruding …
    She wished now she hadn’t refused Chris’s offer. She’d never felt so alone. Not only was she going to drop a bombshell, but she would have to admit her own somewhat dubious behavior and, at the same time, beg a near stranger to donate a kidney.
    Faced with the same message from a stranger, she would throw her out of the house. Or call the cops. Or Max Payton. Was he still on the premises? God, she hoped not.
    The door opened and she came face-to-face with Leigh Howard.
    Leigh’s hair was pulled back in a long braid, and she again wore slacks and a long-sleeved shirt. Apparently no shorts and tees for her. Did she ever not look elegant? She belonged in this house, in this setting.
    Leigh had curiosity written all over her face as she led her into the same room where Kira had interviewed her just days earlier, to the same sofa. They both sat.
    â€œCoffee?” Leigh asked. “Mrs. Baker’s off today, but I made some.”
    Kira shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m fine.” Another lie. She wasn’t fine at all. Be strong. Be strong for Mom .
    Leigh apparently read her tone and face. “What is it?” she said.
    â€œI have some information … It’s … devastating in some ways but maybe not in others.”
    Kira had rehearsed the words over and over again last night and this morning. Now they were all jumbled up.
    A look of alarm came over Leigh’s face. “Max? Seth?”
    â€œNo,” she said quickly as she noted Leigh’s easy familiarity with Max’s name. Not like an attorney. More intimate. How intimate? It had been the first name that apparently entered Leigh’s mind.
    Leigh waited for her to continue.
    â€œYou’re not going to believe what I’m going to tell you. I don’t expect you to. I just want you to listen, think about it, check it out.”
    Leigh stood. “I think you had better say what you came to say.”
    Kira stood as well, decided to plunge in. There was, after all, no easy way to tell the story. She remembered her anger and disbelief when the possibility arose. “I think you and I were switched at birth.”
    Leigh’s jaw fell. “You what?”
    â€œI think my mother is your mother.” What a ridiculous way to describe it. She was a wordsmith. She should be able to do better. But there were no reasonable words for a bizarre situation.
    â€œYou’re insane.”
    Kira expected disbelief. Rage even. She realized she shouldn’t have tried this herself. A hospital spokesman. An attorney. Any would be preferable, but that might take too long. And she didn’t have time.
    She hurried on. “My mother needs a kidney to live. I volunteered to donate a kidney, but the blood tests said we weren’t related. I have the test results with me. I also have copies of birth certificates of baby girls born at the same time. You were born in the same hospital within a few moments of my birth.”
    Leigh stared at her. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
    â€œIt does because I had a hole in my heart. I would have been taken immediately to pediatric critical care. Any switch would have had to be made within a few minutes of the birth.”
    â€œWhy would anyone …?”
    â€œIt could have been an accident. Two babies born at the same time …”
    â€œNo! What kind of scam are you pulling?”
    â€œI don’t want anything other than for my mother to live. If she doesn’t receive a kidney in the next few weeks, she’ll die. I can’t give one. My tissue doesn’t match. Yours might.”
    â€œI don’t believe any of this,” Leigh said, then paused. “Is that why you wanted to do the story?” She turned on Kira in a fury. “Get out,” she said.
    â€œThat was my reaction when I first heard,” Kira said, ignoring the demand.