Every time she did it, I would gently stop her, and remind her that this was hers, all of it, that she did not have to earn it or apologize for it or be quiet about needing something.

It broke my heart a little each time, because it showed me the shape of what they had done to her on the inside, the way they had taught a proud woman to make herself small.

Healing her body was the easy part.

Teaching her to believe, again, that she was allowed to be at home in her own home, that was the work of the whole year.

Chapter 24 — Eight O’Clock Sharp