Missing something didn’t have to become permission.

PART 7 — Going Home with Unfinished Questions

Discharge depended on the clinical team’s assessment and an appropriate safety plan, not simply on Noah eating toast or on Victor leaving the floor.

I had to remind myself of that when I saw the overnight bag zipped and ready beside the bed.

Noah asked three times whether we were leaving that day.

Each time, I answered what I knew rather than what would make him happiest.