I heard the sound of the garage door opening. My father was home. I reached over and grabbed my phone. It was 12:35 a.m. I’d thought he was just going to sleep at the hospital tonight. He was doing that at least twice a week. I couldn’t imagine how tired he must be.
I plumped up my pillows and shifted around, trying to make myself more comfortable so I could get to sleep. For more than an hour I had been trying the usual things I did to slow down my thoughts, but nothing was working. Who was I fooling? There was no way I was going to sleep anytime soon.
I climbed out of bed. There was a night-light on in the hall. The door to my parents’ bedroom was closed, and I couldn’t hear the sound of the TV. My mother was asleep. She’d said she was so tired at the end of each day now that she slept like a log.
I tiptoed down the stairs. The light over the stove was dim but just bright enough for me to see. The door to the basement was shut, but there was a faint glow coming from under the door. I opened it. Lights were definitely on, but I didn’t hear anything. My father couldn’t already be asleep, could he? If he was, I didn’t want to wake him.
Carefully, and as quietly as possible, I went down the stairs. When I reached the landing, I stopped. This was as far as I was allowed to go. It was silent… and then I heard a sound. It didn’t register at first, but then I got it. It was the sound of somebody crying. My father was crying. Was he hurt?
“Dad!” I called out.
The sound stopped, and I heard footfalls, and then he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He was still in his blue scrubs. “Q-Cat, are you all right?”
“I heard you come home.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake anybody up.”
“You didn’t wake me because I wasn’t asleep. Dad, are you okay?”
“I’m good.”
“I heard you.”
He didn’t answer right away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want that. It was a bad day at the hospital.”
“But I thought it was getting better.”
“It is—out there. We’re still dealing with it. There were just so many cases, so many…” His whole body seemed to shudder. “I heard about your school being closed for the rest of the school year. Is that why you can’t sleep?”
“It’s just school.”
“It’s not just school. It’s your life. It’s okay to be upset. But tomorrow the sun will rise, and eventually it’s all going to be better.”
“Do you really think so?”
“The sun is guaranteed to come up.” He shrugged. “Every day we get a little closer. How about we plan on having supper tomorrow together, as a family?”
“We can do that?”
“We can sit in the backyard. You and your mom can be at the picnic bench, and I’ll sit on a chair off to the side.”
“Could Isaac join us from his yard?”
“Sure! Invite his mother too, if she’s home. I’m learning that we can’t do things the way we might want to, but we can still figure out ways to do the things that are important.”
“That sounds great, Dad.”
“Now, my girl, it’s time for you to go upstairs and get some sleep. I’ll try to do the same. See you tomorrow at dinner.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Dad.”
“Goodnight, Q-Cat.”