not why I’m here.”
“Then why?”
I looked at her.
“Because when I saw you in that hallway, I realized the divorce ended a legal marriage, not what you mean to me.”
Her eyes glistened.
“That’s a dangerous thing to say the night before surgery.”
“I know.”
“You can’t promise a future because you’re scared of losing the past.”
“I’m not promising a future.”
“Then what are you promising?”
I leaned forward slightly.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll be here. When you wake up, if they let me, I’ll be here. After that, I’ll ask again.”
Her lips pressed together.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
She wiped it away quickly, almost angrily.
“I was so angry with you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“No, Ethan. I mean angry in a way that scared me. I would lie awake thinking, how could he leave when I was about to tell him? How could
