My husband went to see his mother in the hospital by himself because she “needed peace”—but a month later, when I finally went there, a nurse handed me a note that made my knees give out.

daughter-in-law.”

There was a long pause. “Ma’am, no one has visited her today. Are you sure you have the right ward?”

The dial tone hummed against my ear.

My thumb stayed pressed on the red button long after the screen had dimmed.

In my other hand, the shirt I had been folding sagged loose, the collar slipping over my fingers and pooling at my wrist like continue reading …