I stepped into the hall.
« She’s in surgery? »
« Out of it, » he said. « The doctor says she’s going to make it. She says if anyone had waited another few hours… » He shook his head and didn’t finish.
He reached into his shirt pocket.
Then he held out a small house key on a piece of string.
« I want you to be the one to give it back. »
I took it.
It was warm from his pocket.
« I need to tell you about the house, » he said. « I’ve been on this job thirty-four years, and I have walked into a lot of houses. »
He cleared his throat.
« She’d made her mother comfortable. She put a quilt over her, and a pillow under her head. There was a glass of water on the nightstand, and she’d put a little note under it. It said, Mommy drink. »
I closed my eyes.
« And on the refrigerator, in crayon, in a column, she had written down every feed. Six o’clock. Nine. Twelve. Three. All three days. For both babies. A for Abram, E for Etta. And at the bottom, in big letters, it said, Don’t forget to burp. »
« She’s six, » I said, and my voice cracked on the word.
« She’s six, » Virgil agreed. « And I’d follow her into a fire. »
We stood there for a while, in the hallway, under the humming lights, two people in their fifties holding the same small key.
« I’m off at seven, » he said finally, looking at the floor. « There’s a cafeteria down the hall. I hate hospital coffee alone. »
I looked at him.
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It had been six years since a man had invited me anywhere.
« I’ll bring the peppermints, » I said.
Kaylee Voigt woke up at 5:12 on Friday morning.
Marlo called me, and I walked into the ICU with the key in my fist and Maisie by the hand, and Kaylee turned her head on the pillow, gray-faced and tiny, with tubes in her arm and a monitor tracing a slow, steady line.
« Maisie? » Her voice was a thread. « The babies… »
« They’re warm, Mommy. They’re in the nursery. Etta is loud. »
Kaylee closed her eyes.
Tears ran into her hair.
« I couldn’t wake you, » Maisie said, in a very small voice. « I tried. »
« Oh, baby. » Kaylee’s hand found hers. « You did everything right. »
