Chapter 169

OLIVIA “Mom, do you think Uncle Noah could make it to my birthday?” Hannah asked suddenly. Her birthday was coming up next week, and lately she had been talking about Noah almost every day. She kept telling me how much she missed him. Hannah knew that Noah had gone abroad for work, but we didn’t know any details about where he was or how long he would stay there. At first, I thought it was just another trip abroad for work. But as the weeks turned into months, I still hadn’t heard anything from Noah. “I don’t know, sweetie,” I replied gently. “Why don’t you try calling him?” “I did,” Hannah said. “But I think Uncle Noah is really busy. It’s hard to reach him.” She paused for a moment before adding softly, “Sometimes he sends me a text message. He always says he misses me.” I simply nodded. The next day, I took Grandma to the Palo Alto Medical Center for her chemotherapy session. While she was inside the treatment room, I waited outside in the hallway. The quiet hum of medical equipment