She looked at Margaret.
“I will always be grateful to her for that.”
Margaret began to sob.
Sarah continued, “I didn’t come here to replace her. I can’t replace the years she gave you. I only hoped that, one day, if you wanted to, I might know you.”
For the first time since entering the hospital, I felt my anger give way to something more complicated.
I still had questions.
I still felt betrayed.
But I could finally see that the story wasn’t as simple as one woman keeping me and another woman losing me.
There had been fear, grief, sacrifice, and silence.
And that silence had hurt all three of us.
The Truth About the Money
I wiped my face and turned toward Daniel.
He had remained near the doorway, looking as though he wished he could disappear.
“You knew all of this?”
“Not all of it,” he said. “Margaret told me about Sarah and the adoption. She explained that Sarah had struggled financially after her treatment and that she had accumulated medical debts.”
