We’re on the brink of November, a week since Laura’s accident. I’m in my shop, twisting wreaths into shape when my cell rings. It’s Tom.

“Hi, Tom?”

“Zoe. I’ve just had news from the hospital. Laura’s awake.”

“What! That’s fantastic news!”

“She came to last night. We’re allowed to see her. The doctor says she’s a bit out of it, but she’s talking. No signs of memory loss or any kind of brain damage from the coma. They’re still running tests to see if they can detect any more nerve damage.”

“Thank God she’s awake. Megan will be over the moon. Have you told her?”

“No. It’s her first day back at school. I didn’t want to drag her straight back out again.”

“I think we should pick her up. We promised to keep her in the loop.”

“If you think that’s best. I’ll pick her up. What about Jack?”

“We can bring Jack later. He might be too rough with Laura. Let’s give her a little longer to come to.”

“Are you ready now? I’ll pick you up, we can get Megan, and then go straight to the hospital.”

I look at the dozens of unfinished wreaths in front of me. I have orders coming out my ears. Many are already late.

Laura comes first. “I’ll be ready.”

I close up the store, and when Tom arrives minutes later, I’m ready to make the dash through the cold to the Mercedes.

“Wow. You can tell winter’s here.”

Tom grins at me. “Laura’s awake. Can you believe it?”

“I know! I thought she was only going to be out a couple of days, so when they still hadn’t brought her around, I was starting to worry.”

“We’re out of the woods now. No brain damage. Thank God. Anything else, we can handle. The kids have their mother.”

He’s alight with joy. I don’t know if he’s more pleased that Laura’s come through safely, or that she’ll now be able to give him guidance with the kids. Either way, it’s nice to feel like it’s not a sin to smile anymore. The relief is indescribable. Laura’s going to make it.

We pick up Megan. When she first approaches the principal’s office, where we’re waiting for her, she looks stricken, taking small, terrified steps, but when we tell her the reason that we’re there, her face erupts into a huge smile.

“I told you we wouldn’t go without you, Megan! Your Mom’s awake. Let’s go.”

Megan throws herself into my arms, her grin contagious. “Let’s go!”

Within thirty minutes, we’re at the hospital. Megan insists we stop at the gift shop to get balloons and flowers. For once, she’s happy and animated. It’s good to see her smile.

We head to Laura’s room. True to the doctor’s word, she’s awake, although still locked into the braces at her head and lower back, her legs uncomfortably draped over the rubber block.

When we enter the room, it takes a moment for her eyes to focus, but then she smiles. A wave of joy passes between us.

Megan dashes across the room and leans over her mom to kiss her on the cheek. Her tears fall onto Laura’s face; happy tears. “Mom! You’re awake. How do you feel?”

Laura tries to answer but struggles to form the words. Her lips are chapped and dry, her throat sore from the breathing tube that’s now been removed, replaced by small plastic tubes at her nose.

I step forward and take Laura’s hand. “Ssh. Don’t try to speak. You’ve been through a lot of trauma. Have the doctors explained?”

I’m not sure if her eyes are telling me “yes” or “no,” so I tell her what’s happened. “You had a car accident. You’ve been in a coma for a week. Your back is broken. You’ve had surgery.”

I think she understands. I see panic in her eyes.

I stroke the back of her hand. “Don’t worry, Laura. They’ve put you into traction; a brace. They’re stabilizing you while you recover. It’s going to take a couple months, but you should be as good as new.”

Megan takes Laura’s other hand, holding it close to her face. “Mom, can you squeeze my hand?”

Her face lights up, and she turns to Tom and me with a huge smile. “She squeezed it! She can hear us. She understands.” She closes her eyes and lifts her face upward. “Thank God.”

“We brought you flowers, Mom. And balloons. See?” Megan holds the balloons where Laura can see them. A smile twitches at the corner of Laura’s mouth.

I take Megan’s shoulders and give them a squeeze. “Good idea, sweetheart. She likes them. Why don’t you put the flowers over by the TV where she can see them? We’ll put the balloons over in the corner.”

I watch Laura closely, looking for any sign that she’s not the same as she was before. Her eyes are darting side to side like she’s looking for someone.

I grab Tom’s hand and pull him forward into her line of sight. “Tom’s here, look!”

Another smile twitches.

I grin, and squeeze Tom’s hand. “She’s pleased you’re here.” I turn back to Laura and say loudly, “We’re taking good care of the kids. They’re both safe and well. Jack’s still at school. We didn’t want him to be too rough when you’d just woken up. We’ll bring him over a little later.”

Megan pulls up a chair beside Laura and holds onto her hand for dear life. She talks to her at a hundred miles an hour, filling her in on everything that has happened in the last week. When she runs out of news to share, she starts reading to Laura from one of the magazines on her table.

I collapse down into another chair at the back of the room. A tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Finally, I can breathe.