I wanna see who wins.” I grinned, knowing I was just irritating her on purpose.“Dad, we live in Virginia. There’s no way you care who wins bet...een Arizona and Penn State.” She tried to swipe for the remote, but I had been expecting it and moved it away from her too fast. Narrowing her eyes at the challenge, she reached for it again. We played a game of cat and mouse, laughing the whole time. Bridgette almost won her prize when she started tickling me, but I endured, lifting the remote. ” I never told my friends about it because I wanted a secret for myself.All I was doing was googling “Jazz” and “Ukulele,” and as I got tons of hits, maybe Mr. Rampton wasn’t that weird after all. One of the links was to a discussion group. “The ukulele is so simple that only our ears make us get better. Four nylon strings contain the principles for the whole jazz genre. What’s new is in the old. Keep listening and strumming, UkeManMel,” so totally Mr. Mel Rampton-sounding.Maybe I was bored.. “Daniel” she started slowly “You said something yesterday and I need to know if you really meant it?”“What’s that sweetheart?”“You told me you loved me. Do you really mean that?”I swallowed hard and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, stroking her hair I spoke softly but surely. “Jade. I love you more than I can put into words. You’re perfect in every single way. I’ve loved you from the moment I met you and I’ll love you until the day I die.”A single tear fell from her right eye. Which. What had been so green a few weeks ago was now edged with brown. There had been no rain for several weeks. The world was covered in a fine white dust. At least the humidity was low. They had found a match. The donor had flown in and his marrow had been harvested earlier in the day. It was a painful procedure, not like donating blood or even a kidney. Hole after hole was drilled into his hips and the marrow sucked out. That part was at least done while he slept but the deep achy pain in his.