I locked my wife in the pantry under the stairs

hand on my shoulder.

I do not deserve it.

He leaves it there anyway.

Emily asks to see him before me.

That should hurt, and it does, but not unfairly. Dad goes into her room on weak legs, leaning on a nurse. He comes out twenty minutes later with tears in his eyes.

“She asked if I had somewhere safe to go,” he says.

My chest caves inward.

Emily, lying in continue reading …