“Do you?”
“Sometimes. But then I remember everything Ryan said.”
I wrapped an arm around her.
“Those memories won’t disappear just because your face has changed.”
“I know.”
After a pause, she asked, “Do you wish I hadn’t done it?”
“I wish you hadn’t felt you needed to. And I wish you’d trusted me enough to tell me what was happening.”
Emily rested against me.
“I’m sorry I told you I was dying.”
“I was so frightened when you called. I thought I might never see you again.”
“I know, Mom. I’ll never do that again.”
Before breakfast, Emily showed me a message she’d drafted for Maya, suggesting coffee when she returned to campus.
She put her phone aside.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know if I regret the surgery itself.”
“You don’t have to decide that today.”
She nodded.
“But I regret why I did it.”
I kissed her head.
I remembered that frightening call, the four-hour journey, and my terror when Emily claimed something was wrong with her heart.
