not soften the medical facts.
Both arms were fractured.
Three ribs were broken.
Her left femur was shattered.
Two fingers had been crushed when she tried to shield her face.
“She will walk again,” Dr. Foster said, choosing every word carefully.
Then she added that bones were only one part of recovery.
No one could promise when Anna would stop waking in fear.
Ronald entered the room and found his daughter nearly hidden beneath sheets, casts, rails, and the raised support beneath her injured leg.
Her face looked smaller than he remembered.
He sat beside her without touching anything until she opened her eyes.
Then he placed two fingers beneath the only part of her hand that was not wrapped.
Anna did not ask whether Luke and Reid had been arrested.
She did not ask whether her mother had called.
She asked, “Do I have to go back there?”
“No,”
