ter surgery, every slight movemen

ed! Get back home right now! It is a family dinner to celebrate Tere

ld the phone. "Mom, I

place in this family. Teresa just had a transplant and wants to have the soup you make

ended a

s sitting nearby and eng

ng, but he didn't eve

o, I

o turned another page and said in an indiffe

st had su

oked up at me, and his gaze was icy cold. "Teresa had a hematopoietic stem cell tra

nd suddenly felt

a meeting where he was discussing million-dollar deals to rush ho

re my precious. I can't stand

because I hadn't yet need

nothing more than a means to a

nd returned to the Powell vi

rightly lit, fi

only dar

ron and stood i

intermittently, and cold sweat soa

les, waves of pain sho

rved the steaming sou

und the table happily. They

all laughter a

ealthy. She was not like someone

weetly, "Theo, I

e bowl from my hands, blew on it g

and suddenly fro

the bowl of scalding soup spi

-my skin burned

d react, Bell

harply. "You are careless! Are yo

resa's hand over

mark, she shed tears as sh

onto the table. "Can't you do anything right? Go wait o

llen hand and instinct

my hu

rely he would say something for t

e did

Teresa's fingers. "Does it hurt? Let

for

pare me eve

sible trash, de

ind me, cutting off the w

was snowin

s and quickly melted into icy wa

und, my legs trembling f

t erratically and pou

saw Theo helping Teresa hav

fully and planted a

ect couple

hat w

pping stone in t

g character desti

ste rose in

st, coughing weakly as tea

shame-not for who I was, but for how

or belonging in a family that ne

like a dog, seeking a sem

that I was

amily, but how

I saw my mother's face in the falling snow-gentle, sor