I remember almost none of it, which is a mercy, and I will not pretend to a drama I did not consciously experience; I went under with my promise in my mouth and woke, a long time later, in a bright quiet room with a different sky in the window.

My neurosurgeon was standing over me, and she was smiling.

“Camila,” she said.

“It went beautifully.

We resected the tumor completely, no complications.

You did wonderfully.”