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“Some of her is better than none at all.”
“I agree wholeheartedly. Kaleb?”
“Yeah?”
“You and your mother are the lights of my life. If anything had happened to you yesterday—”
“It didn’t.”
“Just know that no matter what happens here I love you.” He put his hand on my shoulder.
“I love you, too, Dad.”
I pulled the chair he’d been sleeping in up to her bedside. It was the same one I’d sat in when I tried to take away her pain— too little, too late. This time, it was going to be different, because this time, I was going to restore her joy.
I took both of her hands in mine and kissed her forehead.
Closing my eyes, I focused my energy on gathering up all her most precious emotions and memories, bundling them up carefully.
And then I pushed.
I pushed with all the love and determination I had. I focused on giving them back chronologically, as close as I could get for the parts I hadn’t personally experienced, and one at a time. Clarity was the top priority, after bringing her back.
Her skin began to warm against mine, and her breathing grew labored. I finished with the memories I didn’t understand, one in particular, and held on, afraid to open my eyes.
The machine monitoring her heartbeat sped up, and an alarm went off on another machine.
“Dad?” I stood, stepped back, and looked at him instead of her, but I didn’t let go of her hands.
Anger. Fear. Despair. Pain.
The rush of emotions sucker-punched me. I might have gone down if they hadn’t been followed by love. Gratitude. Joy. Relief.
Her blue eyes, the mirror image of mine, opened. She was smiling.
“Mama?” I used the name I’d called her as a child, and my voice broke. I buried my face in her neck, feeling her pulse, strong and sure. “Are you … are you okay?”
“I knew you could do it.” Her voice was weak, and then she was crying.
I touched her face, held her hands. Felt the overwhelming love Dad had for both of us rush over me like healing water.
“I could hear. I knew how you tried to save me. How you blamed yourself, and I knew when your father came back. I just kept holding on.”
Then she caught a glimpse of Dad behind me.
“Liam?”
He rushed past me, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her.
Every lightbulb and electrical appliance in the room blew at once.
I turned to sneak out, to give them time to reconnect, but my mother called out to me.
“Kaleb?”
I turned around.
“Where’s Lily?”
