Then:

I asked the transplant people whether, if I died in circumstances that allowed donation, a directed request for Maya could even be considered. They told me there were rules and that I couldn’t simply choose who got my heart. Her medical urgency, compatibility, and the allocation system still mattered. Nobody promised me anything.

That sounded like Caleb.

Precise.

Careful.

The son of a mother who had spent a year demanding certainty from doctors who could not give it.

If she received my heart, it means the doctors and the transplant system determined it could happen appropriately. It does not mean I traded my life for hers. Please never think that. I was already dying. Maya did not take anything from me.