At the clinic gate, a 7-year-old collapsed, crying, “Mommy has been sleeping for three days, please save them.” The doctor rushed to help the newborn twins, but as he lifted them, his hands shook. Underneath the babies was a handwritten note from the mother that made the doctor freeze in terror…

were you thinking? How did you keep going?”

I looked out the window, watching my brothers tackle each other in the green grass. I felt the thick, silver scars on the bottoms of my feet against the soles of my shoes.

“I was terrified,” I told her, my voice steady and clear. “Every step hurt. I thought about quitting a hundred times. But I knew that if continue reading …