CHAPTER 2: WHAT THE WORLD DIDN’T PREPARE HIM FOR
CHAPTER 2: WHAT THE WORLD DIDN’T PREPARE HIM FOR
At first, his mind refused to process what his eyes were seeing.
It tried to label it.
Tried to soften it.
Tried to make it ordinary.
But nothing about it was ordinary.
Emily was there.
Pressed into the back corner of the small wooden space, her body twisted slightly as she shielded Oliver against her chest. Her arms were locked around him with a desperation that didn’t belong in childhood.
Oliver barely moved.
Only small tremors—like his body had learned to be quiet in order to stay safe.
Dust clung to their clothes.
Their faces carried the dull exhaustion of time spent waiting for something that never came.
Michael’s breath caught.
Once.
Then again.
May you like
And then it stopped altogether.
Because his brain had finally accepted what his heart had already understood before the door opened.
