Organ Donor

About the Book

PROLOGUE OCALA, FLORIDA

He awoke as an agonizing pain ripped through his body, and a feeling of foreboding crept into his consciousness. He attempted to move, yet his body refused to respond to the most basic commands. He was weak and chilled to the bone. So frigidly cold, and more alone than he could ever remember. With every labored breath he struggled to control the searing jolts of pain that continuously racked his body. Each followed by an escalating panic that filtered through his brain. The kind which emanate from deep within bearing the knowledge that something is drastically wrong.

Soon someone would come to rescue him. He wouldn’t die like this. He had too many dreams left. Too many places he hadn’t seen. It would be unthinkably cruel of God to let him die here. Not now. Not like this. He had commitments to fulfill.

He shifted his weight and was swept up in another all consuming wave of excruciating pain and nausea. His head throbbed, and he sucked in a mouthful of frigid air, fighting to clear his mind. He willed his eyes to open. Yet the obscure view offered no clarification for his confusion. Nothing made sense. He was unable to feel his limbs, only the piercing agony that tore through his flesh, tormenting him with each labored breath. His increasing anguish, along with the freezing temperature obfuscated his senses, and eroded his will to live. A deep despondency began to seep into his mind. He strove to resist defeat, wanting more than anything to survive. Yet with every tiny movement he became increasingly hopeless. His physical suffering enveloped him. It’s undeniable presence insidiously drowned out his inner determination for life, maniacally evaporating his fears. Death no longer loomed over him as a cruel uncertainty. Instead, it had evolved into an inevitable release. He did not know he wasn’t the first to endure this torture, nor would he be the last.

Forsaken, he allowed his languid body to slowly succumb to the death he was certain would ensue. He couldn’t fight any longer, thus he drifted off into what he accepted to be his eternal sleep.

About the Author

Dr. Michele C. White is a double graduate and completed her surgical training at the prestigious University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Founded in the 1700s the University of North Carolina is the oldest state university in the United States and is one of the original eight flagship public colleges known as Ivy. She studied doctorate level forensic anthropology and has held membership in a top national pathology academy as well as Fellowship status in a maxillofacial surgery association. Dr. White has been on the medical staff with surgical privileges at three regional medical centers. She is currently conducting research in medical anthropology. Dr. White lives with her husband and son on their ranch located in rural North Central Florida and their home in the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains.