My husband invited his boss to our house, but just before he arrived, he looked at me with disgust and whispered, “Stay in the bedroom. I’m ashamed to have you seen like this. If my boss sees you, you’ll ruin my promotion.”

entered an operating room as an attending observer for the first time.

As the surgical doors closed behind her, claustrophobia tightened around her chest.

Laura noticed her trembling hands. “We can step outside, Mariana.”

Mariana shut her eyes.

She remembered Lucía as a teenager, teasing her because Mariana always modestly described herself as “just a doctor.”

“Someday you’ll realize that saving a life is never ‘just’ anything, Mom,” Lucía had told her.

Mariana opened her eyes, drew a steady breath, and adjusted her surgical mask. “No. I’m staying.”

And she