He rides to the store, packs bears and blankets into his saddlebags, then meets Michael at St. Catherine. Michael now leads the pediatric trauma nursing team.
Dr. Whitaker visits twice a year.
Ben has remained sober. Laura volunteers with parents experiencing hospital-related panic and grief. Neither pretends their absence did not hurt Eli. They speak about it honestly because silence already stole enough time.
The thirty-day reading calendar hangs inside the Iron Lantern clubhouse.
It is stained, folded, and covered with names. Beneath it sits a photograph of Lucy’s first day back at school, Rosie under one arm and Eli holding her other hand.
People sometimes praise Rook for buying the bear.
He corrects them.
“The kid bought it,” he says. “I only covered the distance.”
Fourteen weeks.
Fifty cents at a time.
Seven dollars earned by a boy who returned carts, carried groceries, and collected cans because his little sister needed something soft waiting for her.
