the crowds like a ghost, the city's noise and energy a distant, m

gency room, my eyes s

athy and urgency. "Ms. Hopkins, we were just about

weakly against the restraints on the bed. His breathing was shallow, a fain

g to his side. I grabbed h

I'm not going anywhere." I st

y, and his eyes, those beautiful, distant eyes, focused on my face.

ition. A moment of

n, the

ma.

word he had never said before. A sound

hot and fast. "Yes, baby! It'

ith an impossible hope. Maybe this was

in. He had to hear this. This would change e

g. Finally, his voice,

is is not a

the phone. "Leo said 'Mama'! He's

line. For a second, I thought I heard a crack in his

. he

rgery. I'll do anything. I'll say I was the one who l

, shamelessly

the background. Janel. Her

The moment of humanity, if it

he said, his voice clipped and distant.

Anoth

r any more. I hung u

son. His eyes were

spered again. "I

monumental effor

. The frantic beeping of the heart monitor beside his bed fla

, no, no, Leo. Baby, w

ntly, then har

hey worked on him, shouting medical terms I didn'

as g

n was

t. And his father had chosen a pr

't just go sil