I recognized the box immediately.

“You brought the hospital cards,” I said.

“I found them in my kitchen drawer yesterday,” Rachel said.

I sat down on the floor across from her.

This was the same woman who had sat by my bed when I had nothing.

Rachel opened the top flap of the box and slid the deck out into her palm.

The cards were warped and bent from years of heavy use.

She split the deck in half and shuffled the cards together with a fast, practiced motion.