Chapter 2 - Eight Seconds
Lily’s knees shook before she even left the seat.
Noah moved closer without touching her.
“Want to stop?”
“No.”
Her father reached for her shoulder.
“Lily, the doctor said—”
“I heard him.”
She pushed.
Pain pulled through her hips.
Her thighs trembled.
For one terrifying second, she thought her legs would fold.
Then the wheelchair seat was beneath her instead of against her.
She was standing.
Not straight.
Not steadily.
But standing.
The orchestra’s last note faded into a thin, ugly squeak.
Noah stayed beside her.
“Breathe.”
She laughed once, a small broken sound.
Her father whispered her name.
Eight seconds.
Then her knees softened.
Noah guided her backward while she reached for the armrests.
She landed hard enough to gasp, but safely.
He immediately knelt.
“Anything sharp?
Anything different?”
“No.”
“Dizzy?”
“A little.”
Dr. Keller pushed through the guests.
“This is exactly the kind of reckless behavior that can cause serious injury.”
He grabbed the wheelchair handles.
Lily caught the wheel rims.
“Don’t.”
“You need to rest.”
“I said don’t.”
Andrew stared at her legs.
“You told me she couldn’t.”
Keller’s expression barely changed.
“I told you her recovery was uncertain.”
“No,” Lily said.
“You told me trying would make it worse.”
Grant arrived beside them, smiling at the gathering phones.
“Everyone, please give my niece some privacy.”
His hand closed around Noah’s upper arm.
The boy flinched.
Lily saw it.
She also saw the woman near the service door.
Rosa.
Her former home health aide stood in a catering apron, one hand pressed against her mouth.
“Rosa?”
Grant’s grip tightened.
“You’re trespassing,” he told Noah.
Rosa crossed the floor.
“He’s with me.”
“You were dismissed.”
“From your house.
Not from every job in New Jersey.”
Andrew looked at her.
“You left.”
Rosa’s eyes snapped toward him.
“Is that what they told you?”
Keller bent over Lily, reaching for her wrist.
She pulled away.
“No more medicine tonight.”
His hand stopped.
Andrew turned slowly.
“What medicine?”
“The drops,” Lily said.
“The ones that make me sleep through therapy.”
Grant’s smile disappeared.
Rosa reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a folded sheet.
“I tried to tell you,” she said.
Andrew took it.
Across the top, in his own name, was an order ending Lily’s physical therapy.
At the bottom was his signature.
May you like
He stared at it.
“I never signed this.”
