Chapter 4

On the day of my mom's funeral, I collapsed in the chilly cemetery.

My heart ached again on the way to the hospital. A numb feeling spread from my fingers, creeping over me like a tide.

The doctor told me I had stress-induced cardiomyopathy. There was a more romantic name for it: broken heart syndrome.

I laughed through my tears. It turned out that when someone was hurting that much, her heart really did shatter.

It was so bad that I had to get a mechanical heart pump.

Now, when I showed Margo the surgery scar on my inner thigh,…