Free How to Save a Life by Kristin Harmel Page A

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    Logan nudges me, and I look down.
    “Oh,” I say. “Jamie, this is my friend Logan. We were just visiting the tree. It’s Logan’s favorite place in the hospital.”
    “Really?” Jamie beams at Logan. “You know, my daughter was just a few years younger than you when she asked me to plant this tree. I still water it and take care of it.”
    “Your daughter was Caroline?” Logan asks.
    Jamie looks startled. “Yes. But how did you know her name?”
    Logan frowns. “Oh. Uh, I think I must have seen it on a sign or something somewhere.”
    “Oh. Right. Of course. The plaque on the wall.” Jamie looks a bit spooked, but he seems to accept the explanation. “Well, I think she’d be really thrilled that you like it, Logan. She always used to say that every living thing has some magic in it. She believed in things like that: fairy dust and spells and second chances.” He glances at me and holds my gaze for a moment.
    “I do too,” Logan says.
    Jamie smiles at him and then turns back to me. “I like to believe that my daughter’s still here in a way, watching over me.”
    “Oh, she is,” Logan says immediately.
    Jamie laughs. “I like your confidence, Logan.”
    He shrugs. “It’s not confidence. It’s just true.”
    “Well,” Jamie says, looking back at me.
    “Well,” I say. I can feel my cheeks getting warm.
    Logan slips his hand into mine and squeezes. “You ready to go back upstairs before they miss us, Jill?”
    “Right. Sure.” I tear my gaze away from Jamie and smile at Logan. “Let’s go. Nice to see you again, Jamie.”
    “Likewise,” he says. I can feel his eyes on me the whole way to the elevator. I turn back once, and our eyes lock again. He smiles, and then he turns away. I exhale heavily as the elevator doors slide closed.
    “Jill and Jamie sitting in a tree,” Logan sing-songs. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
    “Logan!” I say as my cheeks heat up. “What are you talking about?”
    “Oh, just the way you looooove him,” he says, giggling like the ten-year-old he is.
    “I barely know him!”
    He shrugs. “Yet.”

    L ATE THAT AFTERNOON, after spending some more time with Logan, I poke my head into Frankie’s room. He’s sitting up in bed, reading.
    “Hey, quick question for you,” I say.
    He looks up. “Shoot.”
    “If you had the chance to make Katelyn super happy, even if it meant she’d be all swoony over another guy for a few hours, would you want to do it?”
    He squints at me. “You’re assuming I like Katelyn?”
    “Look, you and I are both living in this strange parallel universe where we’re repeating the same day over and over again. Don’t you think we could be honest with each other, at the very least? Life is weird enough right now without either of us lying.”
    He laughs. “Fine. So I have some feelings for Katelyn. And yeah. If there’s something that would make her really, really happy, even if it involves another guy, I think we should do it.”
    “Spoken like a true gentleman,” I say. “And like someone who really loves her.”
    His cheeks turn red as he shrugs. “Let’s not go crazy here. But anyways, what did you have in mind?”
    I smile. “Stay tuned, and you’ll find out.”
    Next, I head out to intercept Merel. I wait on the bench until he comes out of Atlanta Memorial and settles down beside me, tears already flowing down his face.
    “Sir?” I ask. “Are you all right?”
    He looks up at me without recognition, and I have to remind myself that on this today, we haven’t met yet.
    “I—I just lost my wife,” he says as he begins to cry harder.
    “I’m so sorry,” I say, putting a hand on his shoulder. When he doesn’t pull away, I scoot closer and put an arm around him. “You loved her very much. I can tell.”
    He nods. “We were married for seventy years. I just don’t know how I’ll ever live without her.”
    “But you will. You will. I promise. You have to keep going.”
    He turns to look at me. “But how? She