A cold knot tightened in my stomach as I parked three rows back and watched them get out.
Ryan looked around once, then put a hand on Avery’s shoulder. She nodded and followed him through the sliding glass doors.
Not the main entrance.
The children’s wing.
I waited thirty seconds before going in after them.
Every terrible possibility raced through my mind.
Were they hiding an illness? A pregnancy? Some secret involving our family?
I trailed them down a hallway lined with colorful murals until they stopped outside a room near the end.
Avery took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
I moved closer.
Then I looked through the small window.
Inside was a little girl, maybe eight years old, sitting up in a hospital bed. Her head was covered with a bright pink scarf.
And she was smiling the second she saw Avery.
My daughter rushed to her side.
“I brought the books you wanted,” Avery said.
The little girl grinned.
Ryan set a pizza box on the bedside table.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
Then I noticed the photographs taped to the wall.
Pictures drawn by children.
Handmade cards.
One of them had Avery’s name on it.
The nurse walking past noticed my confusion.
“You here for Lily?” she asked.
“Lily?”
The nurse smiled.
“She’s been fighting leukemia for almost a year. Your husband and daughter visit every week.”
Every week.
My chest tightened.
“What do you mean every week?”
The nurse’s expression softened.
“They asked us not to publicize it. Your daughter met Lily through a school volunteer program. They’ve become very close.”
I stared through the glass.
Avery was reading aloud while Lily listened, laughing between pages.
Ryan stood quietly in the corner, looking prouder than I’d seen him in years.
Then I remembered the words I’d overheard.
Mom doesn’t know the truth.
And she can’t find out.
Not because they were hiding something terrible.
