Nobody asked the six-year-old to solve another problem.
For the first time in three days, the next decision belonged to grown-ups.
Late that evening, the girl was allowed to see her mother from the doorway while a nurse stayed beside her.
The woman looked smaller in the hospital bed than she had on the floor at home.
There were tubes, blankets, monitors, and people checking things the girl did not understand.
She did understand one thing.
Her mother’s chest was moving.
The girl watched it rise.
Then fall.
Then rise again.
“She’s breathing,” she whispered.
“Yes,” the nurse said.
The girl stood there for a little longer before turning away.
She did not ask to touch anything.
She did not ask the nurse to wake her.
She had spent three days trying to do that herself.
Now she let the hospital try.
The next morning brought the first major change.
