I couldn’t breathe.
“She held him for three hours,” Grandma said. “Three hours, Daniel. She counted his fingers and his toes. She kissed his little head. She sang to him. She told him stories about the cherry tree. She told him she was so sorry. She told him she loved him more than anything in the world.”
Dr. Hale cleared his throat.
“I was the resident on call that night,” he said. “I came in to check on her, and I saw what Evelyn had done. I should have reported it. I should have called the agency woman right away.”
“But you didn’t,” Grandma said.
“No,” Dr. Hale said. “I didn’t.”
He reached over and touched the photograph.
“I took that picture,” he said. “With Evelyn’s camera. Ruth asked me to. She said, ‘I want proof that this happened. I want to know that this was real.’”
