I ask about Shay.

Doctor Beck says, Shay is happy. She lives in a big house with a man and a woman and other children. Doctor Troy went to see her, but she did not remember him.

Shay does not wait for me.

Are my dolphins waiting?

I’m so sorry, Mila, Doctor Beck says.

I am surprised. I am not sorry. I think of all the good things human. I think of Doctor Beck and Sandy and Justin. Justin sits with my hand in his hand. I cannot be sorry with Justin.

Justin says, What makes a whale beach itself? Are you beaching yourself, Mila?

I say, Justin. It is not difficult to understand. In the dolphin family, if one is lost, all are lost.

Justin is looking away.

Is it this way in the human family, I ask? I cannot know. No one is talking.

Doctor Beck comes to Justin. Her hand is on the back of Justin. Her lips are on the hair of Justin.

The dolphin, they live for today. But I am human. To be human is to live for tomorrow. Why does tomorrow matter? What is important is now.