Chapter 4

At six the next morning, the school nurse’s warning filled our living room.

“Sophie’s breathing is getting worse again. The backup generator may not last through the night.”

Ethan stood beside Madeline while our daughter’s disinfected nebulizer sat between us on the coffee table. Beside it were the three notification records and a transcript of the message he had deleted.

Madeline folded my gray wool coat over the back of a chair. Returning one borrowed object did not erase the fact that she had worn it while my daughter came home from the hospital.

Oliver remained asleep beneath Sophie’s concert…