After Jackson left for dinner with his parents, I crawled into bed with Noah. His body was limp and feverish. I looked at his face, now relaxed in sleep. Dark circles lay under his eyes, and he was more pale than usual. This morning in Memphis, he had seemed perfectly fine. Now, suddenly…
Doctor Kemmer had warned the onset of puberty might bring “troubles.” He had been in no hurry to elaborate on what sort of “troubles” to expect, had told me to simply keep an eye on Noah and report anything unusual. Anything at all, no matter how small it might seem. I suspected it had to do with the growth spurt brought on by puberty. His small, underdeveloped veins might not accommodate the increased flow of blood to places like the heart and brain. A tiny hole in the heart in the wrong place could bec
