Then Comes the Heart

“It’s cardiomyopathy, and you need a heart transplant.” The doctor’s diagnosis stabbed her like a dagger. It seemed impossible for 26-year-old Jessica, who was healthy and athletic, to have been diagnosed with such a severe disease and having her health take a steep decline because of it. So bittersweet, she thought, to have been granted such an incredible, selfless gift but at the expense of her father. After twenty-six years of being estranged, they had finally formed an unbreakable bond. He had given her the ultimate gift of love that he felt he owed her – his heart. Losing him seemed so unfair. With a new heart and improving health, she and Roman, the kind stranger who had come to her rescue when she collapsed, are building the life together that they have always wanted. They have recently gotten married and bought their first home when they discovered that she is pregnant but their lives are rattled, yet again, when they are in a car crash that leaves Roman with a severe head injury and amnesia. As he works through therapy to try and recover pieces of his past, Jessica goes into labor two months early.