Valerie Came Home From Deployment to Find Her Twelve-Year-Old Daughter in Intensive Care
She didn’t smile right away.
She just held the key and looked at the tag.
Then she put it in the pocket of her blue sweater.
“We’re home now, Abigail,” I said.
“And no one is ever going to squeeze you out again.”
She got up and walked down the short hall.
I heard the key go into the lock.
It turned easily.