“There will always be some space left,” she’d protest whenever Amichai brought up the idea, and secretly thank whoever it was that made sure to put that space there. But Amichai was adamant. He sidled up and squashed and crushed, and she let him keep trying. And he really did try. In the bedroom, the bathroom, the car. He’d press up against her wherever he could. Before she left, she told him her skin was red from all his bizarre attempts. But he kept at it till the end.

A young woman in scrubs walks in, calls out the names of people in the waiting room. Ruthie considers her, thinks her eyebrows are nicely done. Then she turns her attention to the couples sitting around them, and realizes they’re the oldest one in the room. She tries guessing by how much. At least twenty years. Maybe even thirty?

“Ilan and Ruthie Zamir?”

“He’s Zamir, I’m Meiner,” she rushes to correct her. “I mean, as of tomorrow we’ll both be Zamir.” She glances at Ilan, worrying he might have taken offense, but he seems unperturbed.

“It’s fine, nowadays you can hyphenate after the wedding, be Zamir-Meiner,” the woman says, and Ilan replies with a smile, saying, “Too late to fix us, we’re old-fashioned.”

A few people in the room start laughing.

“Welcome to Lucid Memo,” the woman says, reminding the room that pre-wedding couples are entitled to a pampering spa treatment after the procedure. Then she explains the process. Goes over safety regulations. Hands them forms and points out that at the end of the procedure some might experience light-headedness, “especially patients of advanced years.” Ruthie wonders whether that last comment was directed at them. Before leaving the room, the woman says the couples will be called one at a time. Two men sitting to their left are holding hands and whispering to each other. One of them turns to her.

“I have to ask, are you related to Meiner the founder?”

“You don’t have to, you want to,” she replies, and Ilan quickly adds, “He’s her ex-husband. Very nice fellow.”

“Did he at least give you a discount?” the guy asks, and someone else laughs and says, “Discount? They’ll be lucky if he doesn’t plant a false memory in them.”

“He’s a decent fellow,” Ilan says, and she takes his hand and squeezes it hard, the way she always does when people talk about Amichai.

2.

THE WOMAN LEADS them into the procedure room. Two round and wide machines stand in the middle of the room. She explains they look and operate a little like MRI machines, then hands them green hospital gowns and asks them to change in the little nook behind the curtain. Ilan goes in first. She follows. The gown is a size too small, but she doesn’t mention it.

“Excited?” the woman asks. Ilan says yes. Ruthie nods.