Eli labeled them by reading difficulty. Rosie sat beneath Lucy’s left arm through every story.
The ritual held for six weeks.
Then Lucy developed pneumonia.
Her oxygen level dropped during the night. Infection spread quickly, and doctors transferred her to intensive care. Eli arrived after school to find the room empty and the bear lying inside a clear belongings bag.
Nobody had warned him.
He stood in the doorway.
“Where is she?”
A nurse knelt and explained, but he heard only fragments: infection, breathing support, unstable.
He ran.
Rook found him inside the parking garage, crouched between two cars with Rosie pressed against his face. The boy was shaking so hard his teeth clicked.
“She can’t hear us downstairs,” he said.
“She can.”
“They locked me out.”
“They moved her to help her breathe.”
“Mom said machines mean it’s over.”
Rook went still.
Laura and Ben had returned that morning after receiving the emergency call. They were meeting Whitaker and the intensive-care team to discuss whether Lucy should undergo another aggressive treatment if her condition worsened.
