“So you’re not feeling at all anxious about the concert tomorrow,” my mother said in a tone of light irony.

“No, I don’t think it was about that. I’m not playing the Schubert tomorrow anyway,” I said. “Funny, I’d forgotten it until this moment. I must have fallen asleep again a little while afterward.”

“Do yourself a favor and go to bed early tonight,” said my mother. “Don’t keep getting out of bed to play little odds and ends over to make sure you have them right. Just go to sleep and stay asleep if you can.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said. “I don’t usually get up in the middle of the night here because the piano wakes Bernard up. But with jet lag and everything . . .”

“If you decide to stay asleep, you’ll stay asleep,” my mother said. “I’m spending the day at the hospital tomorrow, preparing for my first chemotherapy, so I don’t know whether we’ll be able to speak. If we don’t, have a good concert. Call and let me know how it goes.”

“You let me know how it goes at the hospital,” I said. “It can’t be as bad as you think it’s going to be.”

• • •

That night, I slept fitfully. Easy audience or not, Mozart or otherwise, I was nervous. It had been only six weeks since my last concert, but I felt as though I’d been on sabbatical forever. My fingers seemed tight and atrophied. I had included a divertimento that I didn’t like very much, because I had thought it would balance the other pieces, and I didn’t feel like playing it. Bernard said I should announce a change to the program, but that seemed theatrical to me. I kept working on the divertimento. I knew I was playing it too fast, but I couldn’t seem to get it back under control. By the end of the afternoon, I was in a foul mood, and when the phone rang, I was tempted not to answer it.

“You’re still tired,” said my mother.

“Jet lag,” I said.

“Take a nap,” she said. “You still have time.”

“I don’t have time,” I said, “and naps always leave me feeling bleary. You know that I never nap before a concert.” We were both silent for a moment while the line crackled. “Weren’t you supposed to be at the doctor’s all day?” I asked.