For Lucas, recovery was neither quick nor complete. Eleanor remained disabled, and the family continued adjusting to the practical consequences of her stroke. Her speech improved with therapy, but she still struggled when tired. Sophie grew stronger after her winter illness, though she became anxious whenever her mother needed medical attention. Lucas sometimes woke in the middle of the night convinced he had missed a bakery shift, only to remember that he no longer worked there. He still checked the household bills more often than any teenager should have needed to. He attended school meetings reluctantly and disliked being described as inspirational. He did not feel inspirational. He felt like a boy who had been frightened for a long time and was slowly learning that other people could help without taking everything away.

One afternoon in May, he came home from school and found Sophie sitting on the living-room floor surrounded by wooden blocks. She announced that she was building a hospital for her rabbit. The structure consisted of two towers and a narrow bridge that collapsed whenever she placed the toy on top. Lucas knelt beside her and examined the pieces.

“You need a wider base,” he said.

Sophie frowned. “Why?”

“Because the weight is all going through the middle.”

She stared at him.

“That sounds boring.”

Lucas laughed.

“All right. Let me show you.”

He rearranged the blocks, moving the towers closer together and placing two longer pieces across the top. The bridge held.

Sophie clapped.

“You’re clever, Lukey.”

Lucas smiled.

“Sometimes.”

She placed the rabbit carefully on the bridge.

Then looked up.

“Are you going to be a builder?”

“Maybe an engineer.”

“What’s that?”

“Someone who figures out how to make things work.”

Sophie considered this.

“Like when the washing machine broke?”

“Sort of.”

“Can you fix Mummy?”

Lucas went still.

He looked toward the bedroom, where Eleanor was resting after therapy.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Then he sat beside Sophie.

“No,” he answered gently. “Not like that.”

Sophie looked disappointed.

“But doctors and therapists can help her get stronger,” he continued. “And we can help too.”

She nodded slowly.

Then pushed the rabbit toward him.

“Can you fix his hospital?”

Lucas picked up the fallen blocks.

“That,” he said, “I can do.”