And her smile was exactly the kind of smile I'd spent years imagining.
"Mara, sweetheart!"
She hurried toward me.
"Oh, my beautiful girl. Look at you!"
She set the flowers aside and embraced me.
For a moment, I allowed myself to forget the medical records.
I was seeing my mother.
The woman who had read books aloud to me when I couldn't read ordinary print.
The woman who had taught me how to navigate our house after the accident.
The woman who had held me whenever I cried about never seeing the world again.
I touched her face.
"Mom."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You can see me?"
I nodded.
She began crying.
"Oh, sweetheart."
For several moments, we held each other.
Then she stepped back.
"Where's Nigel?"
My chest tightened.
"I asked him to leave."
Mom froze.
"What?"
I swallowed.
"Nigel is Nicholas."
Her expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Just a flicker.
