“Lily is a private girl,” she snapped, her voice low so it wouldn’t carry. “Now the entire oncology floor is talking. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a story about my daughter.”
I felt my own temper start to rise, hot and unfamiliar between us.
“You called me as if something terrible had happened. I drove here thinking she was… I don’t even want to say what I was thinking.”
I stepped back, stunned.
“Don’t do that, Diane. Don’t put this on him. He’s a kid trying to love your daughter through the worst thing that’s ever happened to her.”
She looked away, blinking fast.
A cart rattled past. A doctor’s pager beeped somewhere down the hall.
“You don’t understand,” my best friend said, quieter now. “It’s easier if you just see it. I can’t explain it standing here. I tried on the phone, and I sounded insane.”
