She didn’t. “Can’t stay. PT guy will spank me if I don’t do my laps.”

“Is that a worry or a hope?”

Any other time, we would have laughed together. Now her lips trembled.

If she started to cry, I would too. Best not to give either of us the chance. “How is Lai Fa?”

She patted her pocket. “Want to hold her for a minute?”

“Oh, sure. Let me be the one who gets busted with a smuggled farm animal at a healthcare center.” But I couldn’t resist.

Lai Fa was all warm and soft, a fluff of comfort. She offered the sweetest chirp, looking at me with black apple-seed eyes as if asking, Are you my mommy?

Footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Mrs. Yang slipped the contraband chick back into her pocket. “How long do you think before Violet comes back to us?”

“Soon.” The footsteps went past. “Do you think she can hear what we say to her?”

“I hope she can.” Mrs. Yang reached over and patted Violet’s knee. “You know I love you as if you were my own sister, but if you don’t wake up, I’m going after Louis.” Then she turned, slowly, painfully. “I’ll be back on the next lap.”

She shuffled out.

I adjusted Violet’s blanket.

“I think she meant it. You don’t want to miss strip poker. I’ve been looking forward to hearing the details afterwards. Do you really want Mrs. Yang to take your seat at the table?”

Violet didn’t open her eyes. Her lips didn’t stretch into a lopsided smile. Her fingers didn’t squeeze mine.

“Your doctor said we’re in the wait-and-see phase. I’d appreciate if you didn’t make us wait too long. I’d like to see you recovered.”

She’d had a near full recovery from the first stroke and partial recovery from the second. She could do it again. She was Violet Velar.

A silver-haired man rolled in with a saxophone, maneuvering his wheelchair around the cables on the floor. A knight on his horse, with his sword.

“I’m Louis. You must be Emsley.” He had a soft Cuban accent. His neatly trimmed pencil mustache drooped. He couldn’t take his eyes off Violet. “It’s my fault. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s a stroke. It’s nobody’s fault.”

“Violet—” Louis choked up. “She wanted to sneak over to the hot tub in the PT room in the east wing. She talked me into giving her a ride.”

For a moment, I was confused, then I realized a ride on his lap.

“I told her we should ask the nurse. But you can’t say no to Violet.”

My brain glitched out. “She had a stroke in the hot tub?”

“After we came back.”

“Do the doctors know about this?”

Nod. “I am on probation.”