"I'll be back in three hours, "Dad said as he hurried out for a meeting that late afternoon. "Three hours, "I told myself. "You can do this. "I took a 1 breath and turned to Mom. Through her vision problems, at least, she couldn't see the 2 in my face. If she had an Alzheimer's （阿尔茨海默症） attack, I didn't know if I could handle it 3 , especially at the end of the day.

I 4 Mom to her chair. "Turn a little more. "Mom moved her feet slowly while I helped her get into a good position. Once she was 5 with a blanket on her lap, I sat next to her in Dad's chair and hoped she could 6 now. As she fell asleep, I opened a book, and time passed 7 as I became fully absorbed in the words. Then Mom cried, "I'm scared. " 8 drew lines across her face. "The snow's getting on me. I'm cold, so cold. "

"Mom, you're safe. You're here at home. "

"Help me!" She grabbed 9 to my hand.

"I won't 10 you. " As much as I tried to promise her, I knew she could hear the 11 in my voice. I prayed for Dad to hurry home.

Maybe words weren't the 12 . I did the only thing I could think of. I rubbed（揉） her forehead and hummed （哼曲子）, which 13 her. This was what she'd done for me as a child when I had a bad headache.

As the minutes 14 , the tension left her face. She began to hum along. It was the 15 sound I'd ever heard.