Movement by the door shook me out of my stare, but I didn’t look away from Pa’s still form, considering the nurses rotated in and out what felt like every few minutes. The doctor informed me Pa was on a seventy-two-hour hold for assessment and evaluations, which meant they were keeping a very close eye on him. As quickly and quietly as the door opened, it closed again. A shadowed figure dropped in front of me where I sat by Pa’s bed and engulfed me in an ironclad embrace, arms wrapping around my waist as a curly head settled in my lap. I marveled how his strength held such tenderness, how his gentleness always cradled me within the barriers of safety.

I greedily breathed in the fresh scent of his cologne. It was the scent of comfort and reassurance. The one fragrance in the world that always showed up in the midst of the overwhelming stench of my life.

We remained quiet, only the echoes of medical machines and voices drifting just outside the door in the hallway interrupted the stillness. Questions rolled through my thoughts about how Vance knew Pa was in the hospital, that I was here too, but there was no energy within me to verbalize anything. I was just profoundly grateful that he did know and that he was here holding me.

Vance’s hands glided over my back, brushed my hair behind my ears, traced down my arms, and then froze on the bandage wrapped around my forearm that now had stitches. “He hurt you?”

“Not intentionally. I, uh . . . I got in the way of the knife.”

“Let me take you home.”

“I can’t leave him alone. What if he wakes up while I’m gone?”

“I don’t believe he will. They have him heavily sedated.” Vance sensed my hesitation, holding me closer and whispering in my ear, “If you let me take you home, I promise to come right back and not leave him. It’ll do you good to take a hot shower and change clothes.”

I knew he was right. Even though my shirt and shorts were mostly dry, they were stained with blood and in spots smeared with mud. I wiggled my toes inside Pa’s work boots that I had swiped as soon as Sheriff Inman brought me to the hospital room, feeling the grit and grime between them. There were tater patches on my neck and dirt caked underneath my nails, so there was no other choice but to agree with Vance.