Summary

In “Sadie,” Sadie thinks about the series of events that led the family to move to Maine. Soon after Will and Sadie were married, Sadie’s father died of cirrhosis of the liver. The months before they had moved to Maine had been terrible. Otto was expelled from school. Sadie discovered Will’s affair, and then Sadie had a patient die on the operating table.

Sadie thinks how the procedure was relatively simple, but Sadie did not do the procedure. Her colleagues told her that she had walked out of the room, forcing a resident to perform the procedure. The resident punctured the patient’s heart with the needle. The patient died. Sadie was found perched on the edge of the fourteen-story hospital. Her colleagues claimed she was considering jumping. They said she had a nervous breakdown.

Sadie believed she had simply blacked...