\u201cNot anymore, sweetheart. You\u2019re safe now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I carried her straight to the base medic. The corpsman\u2019s face went pale as he examined her\u2014thin, dehydrated, covered in welts. While they worked, Sophie clung to my hand, as if afraid the walls themselves might betray her again.<\/p>\n
I stepped outside and made one call\u2014to a man who owed me.<\/p>\n
My wife, Megan, called me, screaming through the phone, but her words didn\u2019t matter anymore. The truth had already been written in Sophie\u2019s frail body.<\/p>\n
After fifteen months in Afghanistan, I thought I was done with war. Instead, I found one waiting for me at home.<\/p>\n
When I drove back, I saw him through the window\u2014Eric, beer in hand, lounging on my couch like he owned the place. Megan sat across from him, rigid, guilt clouding her eyes.<\/p>\n
I knocked once and stepped inside.<\/p>\n
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