We stood like that for a while.
Amanda joined too, in her ugly sweater dress, wrapping her arms around all of us. A knot of love and soft smiles.
It felt incredible.
My family.
Just like my mom, my love had no limits when it came to them.
I would protect them. Take their pain. Carry their burdens. Let them live happy and carefree lives. Even if it meant I was the one drowning for them. Even if it meant my tears had to come later, when I was all alone, when no one was watching.
My eyes drifted to my dad. He fumbled with the champagne cork. The bottle popped, and he flinched nervously.
And he had every right to be nervous, because I would do anything for the people I loved.
The phone in my pocket vibrated.
The hug loosened as I got the phone out of my pocket.
For a second, I thought it was Detective Nolan again. But the display read Dr. Rothchild.
“Hello?” I answered, stepping away from the table. I dreaded what came next. His calls usually meant one thing.
“Hey, it’s me,” he said. “I’m sorry to do this to you, but I really need you to come in. We don’t have a single physician on the oncology floor. Two have COVID, one has the flu, one’s wife is in labor, and Greg has to leave in an hour after a twenty-two-hour shift. I’m really sorry, but we have two patients in oncology who might pass away tonight. I really need you.”
My hand dragged through my hair. “Shit … Ummm … yeah. Yeah, of course.”
“Thanks, kid.”
The line crackled faintly, but he wasn’t done.
“Oh, before I forget.”
“Yeah?”
“Remember I told you about the Alderwyn patient I met all those years back?”
“Yes.”
“I finally remembered her name. It was Lacey Alderwyn.”
I froze briefly, then nodded. I’d already suspected it. Still, hearing my mother’s name spoken like that unsettled me.
“It was right after that snowstorm,” he went on. “End of March. Eleven years ago.”
March.
Before Zach’s murder.
There it was. No more space left for denial. My mom knew about the cancer before Zach was killed.
“She came in with another woman,” he added.
That made my head lift.
Another woman?
My grandmother was the first thought.
