Micah shook his head.“No way.You’re part of the group now, Cadence.Besides, Hazel’s been worried about you.And Lillian is pretending she isn’t.”
That last part made me smile faintly.“That sounds about right.”
“Come on,” he said, gesturing down the hall, and relief washed through me when I realized it was in the opposite direction of Lindie’s room.“They aren’t far.”
He didn’t exactly wait for my answer as he walked away, leaving me to follow.
The room Micah led me to had the door cracked open.Laughter drifted faintly through the gap.
Hazel was sitting cross-legged on the foot of a hospital bed, sketchbook open on her lap while Lillian stood beside her holding up a pack of gum like it was a sacred artifact.On the bed sat a girl maybe fourteen or fifteen, pale but smiling faintly.Her eyes lit up when she saw Micah.
“Finally,” Hazel said, grinning.“I was about to send a search party.”
“Relax, I’m here,” he said, stepping inside.“And I brought company.”
Hazel looked over and broke out into a wide smile.“Cadence!”
Lillian smirked.“Guess we rank higher than your boyfriends today.”
I rolled my eyes, stepping in.“Just barely.”
The girl on the bed shifted to sit up straighter, tugging at the sleeves of her hoodie.Hazel introduced her quickly.“Cadence, this is Margo.Our cousin.”
Margo’s eyes widened a little, recognition sparking.“Wait—Cadence Wiles?”
I hesitated, startled.“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
Hazel snorted.“Knew this would happen.”
Margo’s face flushed with excitement.“I know you probably hear this a lot, but your music, Hope’s Embrace uses it.The hospital gives it to new patients, and I listened to it every night for weeks.”
My throat went dry.“I know.”I had to fight a crack in my voice.“I donate my songs to them a lot.”
I didn’t know her eyes could get so wide.I was almost worried her eyeballs were going to fall out.
“Yeah, I have the playlist!”Margo quickly pulled out her phone.“I have every song of yours they have.”Her voice dropped.“The piano and your soft vocals helped me.When I couldn’t sleep or when things felt too big, it helped me breathe again.”
I blinked hard, trying to process that.My songs had been meant to help someone, but I never really imagined sitting across from one of them, and hearing about how much it helped them.
“I’m glad,” I said around a small rock in my throat.“That it helped.”
Margo smiled, nervous but eager.“There’s one song I really love.‘When the Sky Learned to Sing.’”
I couldn’t help but smile.“That one’s special to me too.”
“I know the words,” Margo said, eyes shining.“Can I...would it be weird if I sang it?”
“Of course not,” I said.“Go ahead.”
Hazel and Lillian quieted immediately.Even Micah leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, his usual smile gone.
Margo took a slow breath and sang.Her voice was hesitant at first, uncertain, but it carried that same fragile kind of hope that lived in the song when I wrote it.
“The night was never endless,
It just forgot to dream.
And I was never voiceless,
