You Thought My Turn Could Always Come Later Chapter 17
Three years later, I was accepted to Harvard as the top science student in the state.
The day the news broke, reporters crowded the school gates.
Ms. Ward hugged me, crying harder than I was.
“You did it, kid. You really did it.”
I smiled, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“You promised you wouldn’t cry.”
Over those three years, Ronan came to Boston once a month.
He never asked to see me.
He would just drop off money for living expenses with Ms. Ward, stand outside the school gates for a few minutes, and then leave.
I never touched a cent of it.
I had Ms. Ward deposit it right back into his account.
Caroline came many times, too.
She learned my birthday. She memorized the name of my medication. She even got certified in first aid.
Every year on June twenty-ninth, she would bring me a cake.
I never accepted it.
I wasn’t trying to punish them.
I just didn’t want things that came too late.
On graduation day, Ronan stood in the last row of the auditorium, wearing that same old jacket.
Caroline sat on the opposite side of the aisle.
They didn’t look at each other.
When I went on stage to receive my diploma, Ronan raised his phone.
His hand was shaking so badly that every photo he took came out blurry.
After the ceremony, he waited by the gates in his old Honda.
A freshly washed coat was laid across the passenger seat.
It looked a lot like the one I’d had as a child.
“Sabine.”
He called to me, his voice careful.
“The roads are going to be a mess today.”
“Can Dad… can I drive you to the station?”
Caroline walked over, too.
She was holding a small box with a new inhaler inside.
“I checked. This one doesn’t expire for another year.”
“Take it with you. And remember to replace it on time.”
I stood there, in front of them both.
For a long moment, no one spoke.