“I didn’t know what to tell her.”
I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his hand.
“You came back because that’s who you are.”
He was quiet.
Then he whispered:
“That’s what scares you, isn’t it?”
I lifted my head.
“What?”
“That I’ll always run toward something dangerous.”
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
That was exactly what scared me.
I could accept his job.
I could accept the shifts.
The late nights.
The canceled plans.
The smoke.
The bruises.
But accepting the possibility that one day he might not come home was something entirely different.
“I don’t want to lose you,” I whispered.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
He squeezed my hand.
“But I promise I’ll keep coming home.”
I wanted to believe him.
More than anything.
Later that afternoon, Captain Reyes came into the room.
He stood beside the door.
“How are you doing?”
I looked at him.
“Angry.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
Tyler smiled.
“She called me an idiot.”
Captain Reyes smiled for the first time.
“Then you’re definitely okay.”
I looked between them.
“There’s something else.”
Captain Reyes hesitated.
I immediately noticed.
“What?”
He looked at Tyler.
Tyler shook his head.
