Danny sighed internally when he opened the door; he forgot to use the peep-hole again. He was concerned when he found a well-dressed woman on his doorstep with a large, burly man carrying a small white ice chest next to her. The cooler showed a red logo that resembled a pair of open scissors, he’d seen that logo several times that morning. He looked at the man holding it. ‘Henchman’ is the only word that came to mind when he saw the suited body-builder. That meant the woman was in charge and probably dangerous.
“Can I help you?” Danny asked.
“Mr. Daniel Peterson? 34-year old registered organ donor?” the woman asked. Danny took a half-step back into his house and narrowed his eyes at the strangers.
“Who’s asking?” The woman’s stern face warmed into a smile.
“My name is Susan Noble from Sharp Medical Services. According to our records, you registered as a donor this morning?”
“I.. yes. I did.” Danny said. Despite the official looking logo and their information; something about the situation still seemed odd. It was one thing to follow up and maybe confirm information but Danny could only imagine one reason why the henchman was holding an ice chest. “Why?” he asked.
“The system matched you to one of our most important patients as soon as you signed up,” Susan said. She gestured at the muscled man; he took a step forward and presented the cooler. Danny heard ice rattle inside of it. “We could really use your liver,” she smiled.
“WhAT!? No, you can’t take it, I’m not dead.” Susan nodded.
“I’m a medical professional, of course, I know you’re not dead,” she sighed. “You don’t have to be.” The man holding the ice chest chuckled under his breath.
“You’re telling me your organization lets you go ask people for their organs before they die? I didn’t know it could be done like that,” Danny vigorously shook his head. “No,” he said firmly. Danny braced his leg behind the door and shifted his weight in case the enforcer tried to barge in. Susan sighed again. Her partner lowered the ice chest with a distinct look of sadness in his eyes. He turned and started walking to their car.
“Well, now you know,” Susan said. “And here’s some advice: read the fine print when you sign something. Our procedures are all spelled out very clearly. Now you’ve gotten Jaime’s hopes up and shattered them all for nothing. Because you couldn’t be bothered to take a few extra minutes and read a couple of paragraphs.” She turned 180 degrees and walked down Danny’s sidewalk towards the car. Jaime was sitting on the front seat wiping his eyes with a tissue.
