“Then come look at the telescope I found online.”

I followed her into the living room.

We spent an hour arguing cheerfully about lenses, mounts, and whether a person who couldn’t assemble a bookshelf should be trusted with astronomical equipment.

It was a better use of the morning.

A month before the judgment, I attended a quiet meeting with the hospital’s patient-safety team.

Rachel accompanied me, and a patient advocate made it clear that I could end the meeting whenever I wished.

I had spent weeks imagining the people responsible for signing forms and accepting paperwork as faceless figures.