Tom Doyle was the real cause she never gave up on. Yes, she had loved Lincoln in her way, she supposed, but she suspected now that she had only been with him to prove to Tom that she deserved him. Her writing for lost causes was the ladder, and there Tom was waiting at the very top, with his stethoscope and his nice suit and his lovely smile, his arms wide. And when she finally stepped on that top rung, it would mean she was worthy of him.
