Not yet.

When I returned to Piper’s room, she was awake, stroking the ears of a stuffed fox a nurse had brought her.

She asked if I’d stay through the night.

I pulled the chair close enough for her to touch my sleeve.

“I’m here.”

PART 8

By morning my brother Owen had arrived with coffee and a bag containing fresh clothes for Piper.

Owen taught high school mathematics and had always been the quietest person in our family.