“Very advanced mathematics.”
Dr. Patel touched her arm.
“You were very brave that day.”
Emily shook her head gently.
“I was scared.”
“Those things are not opposites.”
Emily looked at her daughters.
Perhaps they weren’t.
That evening, after the girls were asleep, Emily sat on the back porch.
Mark joined her with two mugs of tea.
He handed one over.
“What are you thinking about?”
“The nurse.”
“What nurse?”
“The one who asked you if I was home.”
Mark groaned softly.
“I still dream about that question.”
Emily smiled.
“What did you think when she said it?”
“That my entire life had disappeared.”
“And had it?”
Mark considered.
“No.”
He took her hand.
“I think the life I assumed would always wait for me had disappeared.”
Emily leaned against him.
“And what did you find instead?”
Mark looked through the kitchen window.
Three tiny backpacks sat beside the door for preschool the next morning.
