After we had dinner, Derek and I headed to the hospital together. I'd packed homemade food for Phoebe, but she wasn't in her room. I went to check in Grandma’s room.

She was sleeping peacefully, stable for now. Everything seemed to hinge on whether or not Robert would make it. My Grandma’s survival, my happiness around it, all depended on him, in an ironic twist of fate.

Derek read my mind and took me to the ICU. There, I finally spotted Phoebe. "Mom," I called out.

I'd ...