Aaron sat beside Lily’s bed, both of them laughing so hard that she was holding her stomach. And behind him, lined up in the hallway like some impossible parade, were a dozen boys with freshly shaved heads.
It was the whole soccer team, two of Aaron’s teachers, and even the young hospital chaplain, rubbing his bare scalp and grinning!
“Come see, come see,” Nurse Maria called, signaling to me as she lifted her phone.
She’d been filming the whole thing.
***
In the clip, one by one, they popped into the room.
Coach Daniels bent down and bowed dramatically. Lily clapped, her thin hands trembling, her eyes shining in a way I hadn’t seen in months.
“You did all this?” I asked Aaron quietly.
He shrugged. “I’ve been asking around for a couple of weeks. Everyone said yes. They just wanted me to go first.”
I turned to Diane. Her arms had dropped to her sides, and tears were streaming down her face.
“I couldn’t say it on the phone,” she whispered. “I tried. I just kept thinking, look what your son did, and I couldn’t finish the sentence.”
“Diane,” I said, moving closer to my friend.
“I’ve been so jealous of him, Rachel. I sit there, I can’t do anything, and he just walks in, and she’s lively again.”
I pulled her into my arms right there in the doorway. She sobbed into my shoulder, and I held on tighter.
“We’re not rivals,” I said. “We’re in this together.”
***
Six weeks later, Lily’s scans came back, and a miracle had happened: the treatment was working!
***
Diane and I sat on my porch that evening, drinking tea and watching the sun go down.
