A small Bluetooth speaker hung from Daryl’s wrist.
“Mrs. Linda,” Megan said, stepping forward. “We talked to Dr. Patel. She said it was okay. We wanted to bring prom to Carol.”
I covered my mouth. I couldn’t speak!
The hallway was full of teenagers!
“You did all this?” I finally managed.
“For weeks,” Daryl said quietly. “We’ve been planning it for weeks.”
I tried to thank them, but my voice cracked. Jenny squeezed my shoulder and motioned them toward Carol’s door.
“Go on, sweethearts. She has no idea.”
I followed them in.
When Carol looked up and saw her friends crowded into the doorway in their prom clothes, she let out a sound I’ll never forget! Half a sob, half a laugh, all disbelief!
“We’ve been planning it for weeks.”
“You guys,” my daughter whispered, bursting into tears.
Megan climbed onto the bed and helped Carol into the sparkly top she’d brought, sliding it right over her hospital gown.
Someone hit play on the speaker, and the room filled with the song my daughter had been singing in the car since February. I watched her laugh. Really laugh! Eyes closed, head tilted back, the way she used to laugh before any of this started.
She bit into a slice of pizza and made a face because the cheese was cold, and the kids howled.
They ate together, laughed, and for the first time in a long while, I saw how truly happy Carol was.
Someone hit play on the speaker.
I stepped back toward the hallway so I wouldn’t intrude.
I leaned against the wall outside Carol’s door, pressed both palms to my face, and let myself cry for the first time in days. Not from sadness, but from whatever the opposite of sadness is, when it still makes you weep.
Then I heard footsteps. I looked up.
