The days that followed arranged themselves into a quiet routine that none of them had designed, but all of them fell into with the ease of people finding the pattern that suits them.
Mornings belonged to the doctors, the checks, the readings, the careful incremental measurements of Nathan's recovering heart that Dr. Simon reviewed with the thorough attention of a man who takes nothing for granted.
Ruby was always present for these, asking questions with the focused precision of a mother who has already lost too much time to accept vague reassurances, nodding at the answers, filing the information somewhere reliable.
The afternoons belonged to the four of them.
