The Burden

I’m Dr. Elena Rhodes, thirty-six years old, a cardiologist at Rocky Mountain Regional Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, and a single mother to twins, Mia and Ethan, seven years old.

My ex-husband left when the kids were eighteen months old, leaving me to manage alone between a packed hospital schedule and two toddlers just learning to talk.

I’m used to carrying everything myself.

I’m used to no one asking if I’m okay.

And for the past eight years, I’d also gotten used to the fact that, every month, a significant chunk of my doctor’s salary quietly flowed into my parents’ account — money no one in my extended family knew about, except my parents and me.