A little boy pointed at her model and asked what happened if a person said they were hurting but the doctor couldn’t immediately see why.

Sadie looked at him thoughtfully.

“Then the doctor should keep asking questions,” she said.

“And the grown-ups should listen.”

The boy nodded as if she’d explained the simplest fact in the world.

For a moment I saw the girl on the bathroom floor, whispering that something was pulling her from the inside.

I saw myself crouching beside her, deciding that the next morning we would take a different road.

There are moments that divide a life into before and after.