Tessa did not spend a week waiting to be punished.

It should not have felt extraordinary.

But to me it did.

When I walked home that evening, the streets were quiet.

A car slowed beside the curb, and for one sharp second I felt the old panic.

Then a driver lowered the window to ask directions to the hospital.

I pointed toward the next avenue.

After the car departed, I stood beneath the streetlight until my breathing settled.