The bakery was already lit when I arrived. The smell of butter and sugar wrapped around me, and for a moment I pretended I was simply another woman buying breakfast for someone she loved.
The cashier smiled and asked, “What can I get you this morning.”
“Two cinnamon rolls and a box of plain pastries,” I replied. “And a black coffee.”
I paid in cash, counting carefully, and drove toward the hospital with the bag on the passenger seat, imagining Lucas’s expression when I arrived.
Inside the building, the familiar chill of disinfectant greeted me. A volunteer told me Lucas was in the courtyard with another patient. I walked toward the glass doors, adjusting my hair, trying to look less tired than I felt.
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