I had been gone for five days, but nothing prepared me for what I saw when I opened the door: my wife juggling dinner and our sick toddler, while my mother and sister sat nearby on their phones.

immediately created columns labeled:

Time. Temperature. Medicine. Fluids. Symptoms.

A tiny exhausted laugh escaped Lauren.

“You and your spreadsheets.”

“Spreadsheets save lives.”

That almost made her smile.

He checked Noah’s temperature again before settling onto the couch with him.

“Tell me everything,” Ethan said softly.

Lauren looked down at the floor.

“It’s continue reading …