Dad pointed toward Noah.
“He signed it.”
Noah remained silent.
My mother seized on that.
“Exactly. If you’re going to judge us, judge him too.”
I looked at Noah.
Then back at her.
“He accepted your contract because you backed Lily into a corner.”
“That’s what he told you?”
“He also showed me where every payment went.”
My parents exchanged a look.
That was all the confirmation I needed.
“You knew.”
Mom lowered her voice.
“Hannah, please. People are listening.”
Only then did I notice the nurse at the nearby desk and several people farther along the corridor.
My mother’s greatest fear in that moment was not what she had done.
It was being seen.
I felt strangely calm.
“You spent years making decisions based on what you thought other people would think of Lily,” I said. “Maybe tonight you can experience what that feels like.”
Dad’s face reddened.
“We love both our daughters.”
“Then you should have treated both of us as daughters instead of treating Lily like a problem to solve.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears.
For a second, I almost softened.
Then I remembered Noah saying she believed I shouldn’t be “burdened” with my sister.
I remembered Lily waiting by windows.
Lily choosing wedding flowers.
Lily decorating her yellow kitchen.
Lily lying behind those hospital doors after fighting to bring her children into the world.
“You are not going into her room tonight,” I said.
“Hannah—”
“No.”
“You cannot decide that.”
“Maybe not.”
A voice came from behind us.
“But Lily can.”
We turned.
A nurse stood there.
“She’s awake.”
Noah covered his mouth.
The nurse smiled.
“She’s asking for her husband and her sister.”
Not her parents.
Mom heard it too.
She looked down.
Dad took her arm.
Without another argument, they turned toward the elevator.
This time, I didn’t stop them.
Lily’s Choice
When Noah and I entered the room, Lily looked impossibly small beneath the white blankets.
She was pale.
Exhausted.
But awake.
Beside her were two bassinets.
Two tiny babies.
Two miracles.
Lily looked at Noah first.
“You cried.”
He laughed through fresh tears.
“A little.”
“Hannah?”
I walked to her bedside and took her hand.
“You scared ten years off my life.”
She smiled weakly.
Then her eyes dropped toward the folded document in my hand.
“He told you.”
“He did.”
Lily looked at Noah.
“You kept your promise.”
“Always.”
She squeezed his fingers.
Then she looked back at me.
“Are you mad?”
“At you?”
She shrugged faintly.
“For not telling.”
I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“I’m mad at a lot of people tonight.”
Her eyes widened.
“But not you.”
“Good.”
“And not Noah.”
She smiled.
“I told you he’d explain it badly.”
Noah stared at her.
“I did not explain it badly.”
“You probably cried.”
“I definitely cried.”
Lily sighed dramatically.
“Bad explanation.”
