She flipped open my chart. “You’re underweight, but I’m sure you know that. How are you feeling overall? Is there anything specific you’re worried about?”

“I feel better already, now that I’m eating more. I haven’t had my period in a long time, though. I’m worried about that.”

“Well let’s take a look,” she said as she guided my feet into the stirrups. “Given your low weight, I’d be surprised if you were having periods. Any other problems?

“No.”

“Almost done,” she said. “I’ll run the usual labs but your menstrual cycle should resume normally as soon as you put on some weight. You’re obviously malnourished but that’s relatively easy to reverse. Make sure to eat a balanced diet. I want you to start taking a multivitamin every day.”

“Will not having a period for so long make it hard to get pregnant someday?”

“No. Once your period comes back, you should be able to get pregnant.” She stripped off her gloves and dropped them in the trash. “You can get dressed now.”

I sat up on the table. She paused at the door and said, “I’ll write you a new prescription for your birth control pills.”

“Okay.”

I thought it would be easier to accept the prescription instead of explaining that I didn’t need birth control pills because my twenty-year-old boyfriend was sterile.

I visited the dentist next and sat uncomfortably in the chair for over an hour while the hygienist took x-rays and scraped and polished my teeth. When she announced I didn’t have any cavities, I considered myself lucky.

Sarah had loaned me some cash. After my dentist appointment I took a cab to the nail salon. When Lucy saw my face, she jumped out of her chair and barreled toward me.

“Oh, honey,” she said, wrapping me in a hug. When she pulled away, she had tears in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Lucy. You’ll make me cry, too.”

“Anna home,” she said, smiling up at me.

“Yes, I’m home.”

She gave me a manicure and pedicure and spoke so excitedly I caught even less of what she said than I usually did. She mentioned John a couple times but I pretended I didn’t understand. When she finished she gave me another hug.

“Thanks, Lucy. I’ll be back soon,” I promised.

I left the nail salon and glanced down at my hands. They were freezing without gloves but I didn’t want to smudge the polish. My teeth felt clean and smooth when I ran my tongue over them. The smell of hot dogs from a street vendor filled the air as I window-shopped, peering through the glass at the latest styles. I decided to come back the next day and buy clothes that fit.

Unrecognizable, I hoped, in the sunglasses and wool hat I borrowed from Sarah, I strode down the sidewalk with a smile on my face, feeling like there were springs in the bottom of my shoes. I hailed a cab at the corner and gave the driver Sarah’s address.

Even the reporters that swarmed me when I arrived at Sarah’s apartment couldn’t dampen the joy I felt. I pushed my way through them, unlocked the door, and shut it quickly behind me.

T.J. called later that night.

“How did it go at the oncologist?” I asked.

“They won’t have my scans and blood work back for a few days. He said he was optimistic though since I haven’t had any symptoms. I went to my regular doctor, too.”

“How did that go?”

“I need to gain weight, but otherwise I’m fine. I told him about getting sick on the island. He’s pretty sure he knows what I had. You were right. It was viral.”

“What was it?”

“Dengue hemorrhagic fever. Transmitted by mosquitoes.”

“You always were covered in bites. So it’s like malaria?”

“I guess. They call it ‘breakbone fever.’ They’re right.”

“How serious is it?”

“It has about a fifty percent death rate. The doctor said I was lucky I didn’t go into shock or bleed to death.”

“I can’t believe the things you’ve survived, T.J.”

“Me neither. How was your doctor appointment? Is everything okay?”

“I’ll be fine as soon as I gain some weight. My doctor said the malnutrition wouldn’t be difficult to reverse. I’m supposed to take a vitamin every day.”

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow night, Anna.”

“I can’t wait to see you, too.”

***

On New Year’s Eve, I took a shower, styled my hair, and put on the makeup I bought when I went shopping. My new lip stain wouldn’t come off when I kissed T.J., which I planned to do a lot. I snipped the tags off a new pair of jeans and a navy blue v-neck sweater, then pulled them on over a black push-up bra and lacy underwear.

When T.J. knocked, I ran to the door and opened it.

“Your hair!” I said. Cropped brown hair framed his face and I ran my fingers through it. Clean-shaven, he wore jeans and a gray sweater. I inhaled his cologne. “You smell good.”

“You look beautiful,” he said, bending down to kiss my lips. He had briefly met Sarah and David at the airport, but I introduced them again. The kids stole looks at T.J., peeking out from behind Sarah.

“You must be Joe and Chloe. I’ve heard a lot about you,” T.J. said.

“Hi,” Joe said.

“Hi,” Chloe echoed. She hid behind Sarah again, sneaking another look at T.J. a few seconds later.

“We better hurry, David, if we want to make those reservations,” Sarah said.

“You’re leaving?” I asked.

“For a couple hours. We thought we’d get the kids out of the house for a little while.” She grabbed her coat and smiled at me. I smiled back.

“Okay. See you later.”

I jumped into T.J.’s arms as soon as the door closed, wrapping my legs around his waist. He carried me down the hallway while I kissed his neck.

“Where?” he asked.

I grabbed the doorway when we reached the spare bedroom. “Here.”

T.J. kicked the door closed with his foot and deposited me on the bed.

“God, I’ve missed you.” He kissed me, slid his hands under my sweater, and whispered, “Let’s see what you’ve got on under here.”

We barely made it back out to the couch by the time Sarah, David and the kids came home two hours later.

“Are you having fun with your boyfriend, Aunt Anna?” Chloe asked.

Sarah and I looked at each other and she raised her eyebrows at me before disappearing into the kitchen.

“Yes, I’m having a lot of fun with him. Did you have a good dinner?”

“Uh huh. I had chicken nuggets and French fries and Mommy let me have orange soda!”

Joe came over and sat next to T.J.

“What about you?” T.J. asked him. “What did you have?”

“I had a steak,” he said. “I don’t order off the baby menu.”

“Wow, a steak,” T.J. said. “I’m impressed.”

“Yeah.”

Sarah came back into the room with a glass of wine for me and a beer for T.J. “We brought you dinner. It’s on the counter.”

We thanked her and went into the kitchen to warm up our food. Steak, baked potatoes, and broccoli with cheese sauce.

T.J. ate a piece of steak. “Your sister is awesome.”

Sarah put the kids to bed at 8:30 and the four of us sat around talking, the stereo on low.

“So you’re saying you had a pet chicken named Chicken?” David asked.

“It used to sit in Anna’s lap,” T.J. said.

“Amazing,” David said.

Later, when I went into the kitchen to refill our drinks, Sarah followed me.

“Is T.J. staying over?”

“I don’t know. Can he?”

“I don’t care. But you get to answer Miss Chloe’s questions in the morning because I guarantee you, she’ll have some.”

“Okay. Thanks, Sarah.”

We walked back into the living room, and T.J. pulled me onto his lap. David turned on the T.V. The ball was about to drop in Times Square and we counted backward from ten and yelled “Happy New Year.”

T.J. kissed me, and I thought I could never be happier than I was at that moment.