“Then what did you mean when you told him some things were
better left alone?”
David stared at me.
“I didn’t.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I never said that.”
Daniel and I looked at each other.
David continued.
“I told Ethan the opposite. I told him the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That the doctors believed the surgery was safe.”
He paused.
“That’s why I was confused when Daniel showed me that letter.”
My heart stopped.
“Daniel?”
Daniel looked terrified.
“What?”
David pointed at the paper.
“That isn’t the letter Ethan gave me.”
I looked down.
“What do you mean?”
“Ethan wrote me a letter too.”
He disappeared into another room.
A minute later, he returned carrying a battered metal box.
Inside were several papers.
One was unmistakably Ethan’s handwriting.
David handed it to me.
I read it.
It said:
Dad, I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But I’m doing this. Please don’t disappear. Clara needs both of us.
