The card was covered in stars and uneven hearts.

Inside she had written in large, careful letters: Thank you for coming when I called.

Natalie read it twice.

It did not make her forget the dim house or the sight of the girl collapsing in her arms.

It reminded her why listening mattered.

Eric, the dispatcher, received his own card a few days later.

Ashley had drawn a headset on the front and written: Thank you for staying on the phone.

He kept it beside his keyboard, where the next frightened caller would never see it but where it would remind him to keep his voice gentle.