Please ask the girl who sang to me, and her sister.
Anna, Tobias’s mom.”
Della looked up.
“Is she mad at us?”
“No,” I said.
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
—
An hour later, I walked into the hospital holding Della’s hand, carrying the red box beneath my arm.
“Tobias’s mother asked me to come,” I said.
A voice behind me answered.
“I did.”
I turned.
Anna stood near the elevators, twisting her wedding ring. From a distance she looked composed. Up close, she looked exhausted.
“You’re Sydney?” she asked. Then she looked at my sister. “And you’re the sweet little girl who made my son smile.”
Della stepped behind my leg.
“Is Toby okay?”
Anna’s face crumbled.
“He asked for you this morning.”
I lifted the red box.
“He asked me not to let you take him home if you’re only going to leave him lonely there too.”
Anna flinched.
“He wrote that?”
“Your son believes strangers care more than you do.”
Anna nodded once.
“I know.”
“He has a locker full of unopened gifts.”
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