“Wipe out whose memory, Mom?” I asked, leaning in to catch her faint words.

“Just swear to your mother that you’ll protect it, Cassie,” she pleaded, shaking under the thin blanket.

I wanted every answer to every question that had haunted my whole childhood.

But looking at her frightened, fragile face, I knew my questions would only put her through unbearable distress.

“I promise, Mom,” I said softly, kissing her forehead.

“I’ll keep it safe from him.”

A single tear slid down her pale cheek, and her shoulders sank back against the mattress.