Yet when Sophie needed help, Jamie was the one who knew what to do.
Claire sat beside him in the hospital room.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Jamie looked at her but didn’t immediately respond.
He didn’t tell her it was fine. He didn’t pretend that the hurtful things she’d said had never happened.
Instead, he asked the only question that mattered to him.
“Is Sophie okay?”
Claire nodded through her tears.
“Yes. She’s going to be okay.”
“Can I see her?”
When the nurse allowed us into Sophie’s room, Jamie stayed near the doorway. He lifted his hand and knocked twice against the frame.
It was the little ritual he’d had since he was young.
Two knocks meant, Are we okay?
And someone knocking back meant yes.
I had always answered him.
For illustrative purposes only
This time, Claire looked at him, then gently shifted Sophie in her arms. With her free hand, she tapped twice against the metal bed rail.
