“Get her out of there!” And something fierce and total rose up in me, and I shoved his arm away hard.

“Don’t touch her!” My daughter looked up at me from where she lay against her father, and she was pale, but her eyes were sharp and hyper-focused, the eyes of a child concentrating with everything she had.

“Mommy,” she said.

“Yes, sweetie?” “I felt two thumps.” The entire room fell dead silent.

I leaned deep over the casket, and I pressed two fingers firmly against the side of Mark’s neck, over the carotid artery, the way I had been taught in a first-aid course a lifetime ago.

I held them there.