Harris sat on the sofa while a nurse drew his blood.
The door to the hospital room opened. Galen stepped inside, pausing for a fraction of a second when he saw the needle, before quickly shutting the door behind him. A rare, overwhelming wave of relief and excitement washed over his face.
He hurried over to Harris, glancing at Franco out of the corner of his eye.
Then, he let out a heavy, shuddering breath.
Abacus was finally going to be saved.
No one spoke. Once the vial was full, the nurse pressed a cotton swab to the crook of Harris's arm to stop the bleeding.
"I can do it myself," Harris said, taking the swab from her.
The nurse gathered her supplies and left the room.
"Does it hurt? Want me to blow on it?" Galen leaned in, his face hovering near Harris's arm.
Harris simply shoved a hand against Galen's face, pushing him away. "No need. Your breath is full of bacteria," he said coldly.
"Are you seriously disgusted by me right now?"
Galen hadn't actually intended to coddle him. The room was just too quiet, the atmosphere suffocatingly dry. Standing there felt awkward, so he was just filling the silence.
Pushed aside by Harris, Galen walked over to the hospital bed. He took one look at Franco's deathly pale face and silently sighed.
Great. Now that they finally had a lead on saving Abacus, he had to start worrying about this boss all over again.
"Is the blood you just drew going straight into the kid to save him?" Galen wasn't entirely clear on the medical procedures regarding Abacus's condition.
"No," Harris replied, explaining the stem cell extraction process in the simplest terms possible.
Galen nodded in understanding. "Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves then. Let's just pray everything goes smoothly."
Harris shifted his gaze to the man leaning against the headboard, his eyes closed in heavy silence.
Logically, after finding a matching bone marrow donor for Manley, Franco should have looked relieved. Even for a man who rarely showed his emotions, he shouldn't look this burdened and grim.

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