A few days later, the shelter sent updated paperwork. They had managed to contact Evan’s mother, Claire Reed. “She’s recovering from surgery herself,” the shelter worker explained. “She couldn’t keep the dog. She was too weak to manage him. It broke her heart to let him go.”
Maya listened quietly, imagining that moment—a grieving woman handing over the leash, saying goodbye to the last living piece of her son. The thought stayed with her long after the call ended.