The mall was louder than usual, but then Saturdays always were. I parked farther out than I wanted. The closer spots were all taken, so I limped through the crowd, shifting the weight off my prosthetic.
It had started rubbing raw behind my knee again.
While I waited in line with the doll tucked under my arm, I found myself staring into a display of children’s backpacks, all bright zippers and cartoon animals. Something about the moment, the waiting and the ache in my stump, pulled my mind backward.
I limped through the crowd, shifting the weight off my prosthetic.
I was 25 when it happened. It had been my second deployment with the army. One moment, I was walking across a dirt road in a rural village with the team, and the next, there was fire and heat and the sound of metal tearing through the world.
They told me later that the medic nearly lost me in the dust and blood.
My recovery was slow and excruciating. I had to relearn how to stand, how to balance, and how not to hate my own body. There were days I wanted to throw the prosthetic out the window and disappear.
It had been my second deployment with the army.
There were days when I almost did.
But Jess was there when I came home. I remember the way her hands shook when she saw me.
“We’ll figure it out, my love. We always do,” she whispered.
And somehow, we did.
We got married, had Evie not long after, and together, we built something strong.
“We’ll figure it out, my love.”
But I also remembered the time Jess saw my leg after a long day and turned her head too quickly. I’d told myself it was just hard for her, the swelling, the angry skin, the smell of antiseptic. But I never questioned her love.
Not really.
“Next!” the cashier called out, shaking me out of my thoughts.
By the time I got home, the sun was dipping low behind the trees. As I walked up to the house, I saw Gloria from across the street sitting on the porch, her nose buried in one of my novels.
I never questioned her love.
“Hey, Callum,” she said, not looking up. “Jess ran out a while ago. She asked me to keep an ear out for Evie. She said you’d be back soon.”
My stump ached, and my stomach flipped.
“Did she say where she was going?”
“Nope. It just seemed like it was an emergency. The car was running while she came to get me.”
“Jess ran out a while ago.”
Inside the house, something was wrong. The cake sat on the counter, unfinished. The frosting knife leaned against the edge of the tub. There was no music, no Jess, no Evie. Just silence.
“Jess?” I called out, louder than I meant to. I knew Gloria said she wasn’t home, but I couldn’t help myself.
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