For a moment he just looked at her.
Then he exhaled, long and unsteady, and closed his eyes. “Maya.”
“All my markers are stable,” she said, softer now. “Heart function normal. Blood pressure controlled. She used the word excellent, which I think doctors only do when they’re feeling reckless.”
Taylor stepped closer and put both hands on either side of her face. His eyes were bright. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He kissed her forehead, then her mouth, then pulled her into him so tightly she could feel the depth of the relief move through his body like weather breaking.
When he finally let go enough to look at her, he said, “You did it.”
Maya shook her head and smiled through tears. “We did.”
He nodded. “We did.”
Later, after they had checked once more on Grace and turned off the kitchen light and gone to bed in the quiet, ordinary peace of a life that had become honest, Taylor lay awake for a few minutes longer, watching the city throw faint patterns across the ceiling.
