"They won't discharge him yet," Serena answers. She understands the reasons behind it but that doesn't set her stubbornness at ease or make her feel like any less of a failure. She ought to be able to care for her son on her own. "He was born early, too small."

Back in North Carolina, a lot of children wouldn't have survived being born so soon. Prayer and wives' tales were used where medicine is here. "They say he's healthy but his lungs aren't quite developed."