“It’s just you and me today.”

“He called my phone an hour ago,” Grace whispered, looking down at the crinkly paper on the table.

“He said if I didn’t ask the doctor to let me go home today, he’d take away volleyball for the whole year.”

I sat down beside her on the narrow bed and took her cold fingers in mine.

“Nobody is taking volleyball away from you, Grace,” I said.

“You’re staying right here until this mass is gone.”