I should have kept trying.
A nurse braided thin strips of clean bandage into two rings.
Alicia wore a white scarf over her bald head like a veil.
Her sister, Nora, brought flowers.
Alicia smiled through the whole ceremony.
Nora fixed the scarf twice, then squeezed my hand.
Her sister brought flowers.
"Thank you. You gave her something. I mean it."
I left believing I'd helped.
***
Two days later, Alicia was gone.
At the funeral, I stood behind people who'd loved her for her whole life, unsure where I belonged.
"I mean it."
Afterward, I was beside my car when Nora hurried over with a small sealed box.
"She asked me to give you this only after she was gone."
My name was written across the lid in Alicia's handwriting.
I opened the box with Nora standing beside me.
The first thing inside was a letter from a lawyer.
