The house looked exactly as it had that morning, except now Peter understood it differently.
The spare bedroom was not a spare bedroom anymore.
The couch was not just a couch.
The porch was not just a porch.
It was the place Drew had been crawling toward.
It was the place Lily had trusted because Drew trusted it.
It was the place Aaron would have wanted them to reach.
That night, after temporary approval was granted and the children were settled under hospital instructions, Peter sat in the hallway between their rooms.
Drew had a cast propped on pillows.
Lily had eaten soup slowly from a plastic bowl and fallen asleep with a cracker still in her hand.
Peter left the hallway light on.
He left both doors open.
He slept in a chair because Drew had asked, without asking, whether he would be close.
Near midnight, Peter’s phone buzzed.
It was a message from an unknown number.
Only one line.
