Eleanor eventually agreed to sell assets rather than prolong every dispute.
The estate she had treated as proof of her superiority was placed on the market.
The news arrived in a letter from Rebecca.
I read it while Leo slept beside me at home.
By then, he had been discharged with follow-up appointments and a carefully explained recovery plan.
The day we brought him home, David carried him through the front door wrapped in his favorite blue blanket.
Chloe had filled the living room with paper stars.
Leo had looked at them with sleepy delight.
“Did I go to space?” he asked.
David laughed.
“Not quite, buddy.”
I kissed Leo’s hair.
“But you came home, and that’s better than anything.”
He slept nearly the entire afternoon.
I sat beside him, listening to every breath.
For days afterward, I woke repeatedly at night to check on him.
I knew recovery would not erase the terror overnight.
