I didn’t know what to say. I reached for her elbow, and she let me hold it for one second before pulling away.
“That isn’t who you are, Diane.”
“It’s who I’ve been,” she said, sighing. “And I hate it.”
We stopped outside Room 412.
“I’ve been jealous.”
There was laughter inside, real, surprised, gasping laughter! Lily’s laughter was the kind I hadn’t heard in months!
Don’t miss
Diane put her hand on the door. She finally looked at me, her eyes wet.
“I tried to convince myself that he was turning her into a spectacle,” she whispered.
“But listen to her, Diane. He’s giving her back to herself,” I replied.
Her voice cracked.
“I can hear it now.”
She pushed the door open, and I held my breath as I stepped through.
She finally looked at me.
I stepped inside and froze.
Aaron sat beside Lily’s bed, both of them laughing so hard that she was holding her stomach. And behind him, lined up in the hallway like some impossible parade, were a dozen boys with freshly shaved heads.
