My Son Called Me From The Hospital. When I Arrived, The Doctor Went Quiet And Said, “You Know He’s Our Chief Of Surgery… Right?”

is a different country. The world narrows to wet asphalt and taillights, to exits that appear and vanish like half-formed thoughts. Ethan stayed on speaker until his battery began to die. I could hear the ER behind him: muffled announcements, a distant cough, the metallic squeak of wheels.

“Dad,” he said at one point, voice shaking, “he asked if I’d continue reading …