“Look. I’ll ride down to the Conkles’ and pick up some more lettuce for dinner. Olympia said she didn’t get quite enough this morning. Is that safe enough?” Rae had her hand on her nonexistent hip.

“I… I guess. But it’s five miles. Luna can’t run that far.”

“No, I suppose not.” Rae knelt beside Luna. “Can you stay here with Mom? I know the music is awful, but she’s halfway done.”

That wasn’t what Kellen intended at all. “Rae, no, don’t—” Please take the dog. She’ll protect you!

But suddenly, Kellen couldn’t speak. Tension froze her throat, her vocal chords.

“Mom?” Rae ran over. “What’s wrong?”

Kellen couldn’t breathe.

“Mom?”

That was the last thing Kellen heard until she opened her eyes. She was stretched out on the living room floor on the antique rug…that had a red stain on the ivory background. She put her hand to her cheek and pulled it away, smeared with blood.

Max knelt beside her. “Kellen? Kellen? What happened?”

“I… I couldn’t breathe. I guess I passed out.” Kellen kept staring at the smear on her palm. “What did I do?”

“You hit the coffee table with your face.” Max helped her sit up. “Thank God, it’s just a little cut. Rae, would you get us a damp towel?”

Rae stomped out of the living room.

“Is this the same as the aphasia?” Max asked Kellen.

“No, I’m not forgetting the words. Everything freezes: my chest, my throat, my vocal chords. I can’t breathe.”

Rae returned with a towel so wet it dripped all the way across the floor.

“Rae! We want to wipe off Mommy’s face, not give her a bath.” Max sounded exasperated. “Go wring it out.”

Rae sighed violently and stomped out again.

Max returned his attention to Kellen. “It’s happened before?”

“Yes, but never like that, where I black out.”

He was on his feet in an instant. “I’ve got to call the doctor.”

“No.” Kellen lunged, grabbed his leg. “You can’t. Literally, you can’t.”

“I can call from the helicopter. I can take you to the hospital. I will! You could die.”

“What I really need right now is an ice bag and that damp dish towel to wipe my face.”

“Rae!” Max yelled. “Hurry up!” Then he couldn’t wait, and headed into the kitchen himself.

Kellen heard him scolding Rae, and he was back in less than a minute with an ice bag wrapped in a dish towel and another damp dish towel.

As he knelt beside her to clean her face, she looked him in the eyes. “After all I’ve been through, I’m not going to die from this. I spoke to the doctor.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”