That evening, the question box made a small space for all the things we still could.

PART 26

Even with insurance, the paperwork felt endless.

Statements arrived in envelopes whose explanations often seemed written for people who had never faced medical uncertainty.

I spread them across the counter one morning and felt the old instinct to hide them so Callum wouldn’t worry.

I stopped myself.

This was exactly how two people could begin protecting each other into isolation.

When he joined me, I pulled out a second chair.