I had spent my whole life refusing to accept the worst on my sister’s behalf, refusing the schoolyard’s verdict on her, refusing the world’s small list of what she could never have, and I was not about to start accepting the worst now.

Beside me, Gabriel made a sound I have never heard a person make before or since, and then he said a word, very quietly, that I did not understand.

“My promise,” he whispered, staring at nothing.

“My promise.”

Chapter 15 — My Promise

The doctor turned and disappeared back through the heavy doors into the surgical wing, and Gabriel stood frozen where he was, swaying slightly on his feet as though he might faint, and I put my hand flat on his back to steady him.

He was my best friend.