“That one.”
She didn’t even ask the price.
She carried it into the dressing room and came out ten minutes later with tears in her eyes.
Not sad tears.
Happy ones.
For the first time in weeks, she looked like herself again.
She spun once in front of the mirror.
“What do you think?”
Eli looked up from his phone.
He smiled.
“You look obnoxious.”
“Perfect.”
She grinned.
“I’ll take it.”
On the drive back to the hospital, Maya asked me to stop near an old roadside produce stand.
There was a patch of wildflowers growing beside the fence.
She asked Eli to help her out of the car.
I watched them walk slowly together.
A few minutes later, she returned holding a tiny yellow flower.
Nothing special.