I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

the kitchen drawer and driving it into your back.
Mom didn’t even realize I saw it happen. She’d bitten through her
arm to keep from making noise and tried to clean up before she
caught sight of me.
Mom.
Oh, Neo , she said, smiling, pretending there weren’t tears streaming
down her face.
It’s okay, honey, just go back to bed.
Your face is bleeding, I said.
Is it? She touched her cheek and hissed. I’m so clumsy these days,
aren’t I?
Mom?
Yes?
Can you sleep in my room tonight?
She sniffled and nodded.
Yes, she said. Yes, of course, I can.
—
C couldn’t live without his heart.
I think I always knew that. Sorrow isn’t the first thing that hits when
the surgeons emerge into the waiting room. It’s the realization that
what I’ve been waiting for is here, like I’ve reached the end of a path
I knew was a dead end.
You really are a strange, beautiful creature, he said.