“I was. Even though I don’t remember it. Grady told me I was brave, though.”
“We’re just here for the follow up,” I said, hoping he didn’t ask who Grady was. “Everything’s healing fine, but it was a bit of a scare.”
“I’m sure it was.” Mark seemed about to say something further, but Madison interrupted.
“Do you want to sign my cast? I have eleven so far.”
“Sure. If it’s okay with your mom.”
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
Mark pulled a pen from his coat pocket and signed carefully above Madison’s wrist.Get well soon! Dr. Mark.
“Thank you. I never had a doctor sign it before.” Madison beamed. “Robbie will be impressed. He loves doctors.”
“He does?” Mark asked, glancing over at me.
“Anything with science,” I said.
“I was just about to sit and eat lunch,” Mark said. “You guys want to join me?”
Madison was already pulling on my hand. “Can we, Mom?”
“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”
“I see you’re having a slice of pizza, Miss Madison, but what’s your mother going to eat?”
“Oh, I’m not really hungry,” I said, just as my stomach growled to give me away.
“Let me treat you both to lunch,” Mark said. “The sandwiches are really good here.”
I relented. “Thank you. That would be lovely.”
I grabbed a sandwich from the deli case while Mark took Madison over to a refrigerator stocked with juices.
“Can I have juice, Mommy?” Madison yelled out from across the room. Several people turned to look at her.
I nodded, putting my finger to my lips to remind her not to shout.
Mark paid for our lunch, and then we found a table by the windows overlooking the courtyard and dug into our food. I realized how hungry I had been when my sandwich quickly disappeared. Mark, on the other hand, ate his salad slowly andmethodically, every bite exactly the same size as the last. He even cut his cherry tomatoes in half. It reminded me of Robbie.
“When did Madison have her accident?” Mark asked.
“Yesterday,” I said. “I got a call from school. They’d already sent her to the hospital in the ambulance, so I met her here.”
“Mommy was scared,” Madison said. “But she pretended like she wasn’t.”
“I bet she’s good at that,” Mark said, glancing at me.
“Grady says she’s good at everything,” Madison said.
“Who’s Grady?” Mark asked, a little too casually.
“Mommy’s friend. He’s my friend too. And Robbie’s.”
“Yes, he’s a close friend of mine,” I said.
Mark nodded, his expression shifting slightly. “I see.”
