“You look terrible,” she whispered.

It was such a Rachel thing to say that I laughed and cried at once.

“You should see the other guy,” I replied.

Her hand closed around mine, and for a moment I could almost believe we had merely survived a frightening ordinary hospital stay.

Then she asked for Lucas.

I told her he was at school with his grandmother, and that we had decided not to pull him out of class for every change in her condition.

Rachel nodded.