Garrett led them, and he had a smirk on his face that I knew intimately, the smirk of a man who believes he is holding all the cards and has come to enjoy the game.

He stepped up to my bed.

“Well, Maren,” he said.

“Look what happens when you don’t listen.

You could’ve been resting comfortably at home if you’d just learned how to obey.” His mother leaned in beside him.

“Did you tell the doctors your little story about falling down the stairs, you clumsy thing?” And here is the part I am proudest of, in the whole of it.

I did not cry.