Chapter 22
“We don’t know yet.”
“Will he still be Dad if he can’t?”
I pulled her against me.
“He will always be your Dad.”
She leaned into my shoulder.
“Then I think he’ll be okay.”
Her certainty was not medical.
It was better than that.
That evening, Marcus came home with Dr. Patel and David. The surgical team had postponed the final consent discussion until the morning, giving him time to spend the night with us.
He stood in the doorway and looked at Emily.
She ran to him.
He bent carefully, wrapping his arms around her.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
“You scared me.”
“I know.”
“Mom says you have to tell us the truth now.”
Marcus looked over her shoulder at me.
“She’s right.”
Emily pulled back.
“Did you forget something?”
He glanced at me.
I held out the envelope.
He took it.
For a moment, he only stared at the handwriting.
Then he sat on the sofa.
We gathered around him, though David and Dr. Patel remained near the kitchen, giving us space.
Marcus opened the envelope.
The letter was only one page.
He read it silently.
As his eyes moved down the page, his breathing changed.
When he finished, he folded it carefully.
“What did it say?” Emily asked.
Marcus looked at her.
“It said Lily was sorry she had been afraid to tell the truth.”
“Did she do something bad?”
“No,” he said. “She made a decision because she wanted to protect someone.”
“Was it the right decision?”
Marcus considered.
“I don’t know. Sometimes people make choices for reasons that make sense to them, even if the choices cause problems later.”
“Like when you didn’t tell Mom you were sick?”
His face went still.
I looked at Emily.
“Sweetheart—”
“No,” Marcus said gently. “She’s right.”
He folded the letter again.
“I was afraid. I thought if I kept things to myself, I could protect everyone. But I made things harder.”
Emily nodded as if this confirmed something she had already understood.
“Are you going to do that tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
Marcus looked at me.
Then at our daughter.
“I promise I will tell you what I know. And I will tell you when I don’t know.”
Emily seemed satisfied.
She rested her head against his shoulder.
After dinner, David and Dr. Patel left. Before David stepped outside, he turned to me.
“I owe you an apology.”