Kevin lay down on the narrow pullout mattress next to Brooklyn and stretched his long arm protectively across her small waist.

Within twenty minutes, his breathing settled into a deep, even rhythm.

I sat alone at the small table with my cell phone resting in the center of my palm.

The faint glow of the screen lit up the front of my cotton sweater.

I unlocked the screen, opened a blank text message, and picked my sister Melissa’s name from my contacts.

My thumb hovered over the glass for a long moment before I started typing.