you didn’t hesitate.”
I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was listen. “When I came to, while you were checking my pulse, I caught a glimpse of your badge.
And I remembered hearing your name, Elena. When I woke up in the hospital, I asked the nurse if I could speak to someone at the precinct. She said it wasn’t standard protocol.”
Colin told me that after two IV drips — an antibiotic and one for rehydration — he was discharged into the care of his live-in helper. “You went to the station looking for me?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“I did,” he said, nodding. “I asked for you by name. I told them I wanted to thank the officer who didn’t walk past me.”
“And they just…
gave you my address?” I asked, half laughing, half stunned. “It was your captain,” Colin said with a small smile. “Captain Rivera said that you were the wife of one of his best officers, Leo.
He said that you deserved someone to see your work and appreciate it.”
I felt the weight of Leo’s name settle between us. “There’s something else,” Colin said, shifting slightly. “I want to repay you, Elena.”
I stepped back a little, my palms instinctively raised.
“You don’t owe me anything, Colin. I took an oath to protect, and that’s all I did.”
“I know,” he said, leaning against the car. “But please, let me explain.”
He took a deep breath.
“Years ago, I lost my wife. She had a seizure in a crosswalk downtown. People laughed. People filmed her while she was on the ground, making her a viral sensation overnight. But not a single person stepped in to help.
And by the time the paramedics got to her, it was too late.”
My chest ached for him. I saw the pain flicker behind his eyes, just briefly. I knew his pain all too well.
It shocked me that we were two very different individuals who had gone through the same kind of hell. “I unraveled after that. I started working at a textile factory.
I had long shifts, but I didn’t mind them. I wanted anything to avoid the silence. One night, a machine malfunctioned, and it crushed both my arms.
They saved what they could, but this is what I have now.”
Colin glanced down at the ends of his sleeves. I didn’t speak. “I told myself I would stay invisible.
That I would never count on the kindness of strangers again. But then I started walking the city. Not to test people, not really.
Just to… see. To feel something. To believe that compassion might still exist.”
Colin met my eyes.
“And it does, Elena. Because of you.”
I let the silence stretch between us. “I don’t have a family anymore,” he said.
“I don’t have much left. But what I do have, I want to share.”
I looked past him at the car. “You…
you drive that yourself?”
Colin chuckled, and immediately, the atmosphere lightened. “It’s modified for me. And there are voice controls.
It’s pretty fancy, but I got a payout after the incident,” he said. I smiled despite myself, even as something inside me hesitated. I kept in contact with Colin for a while.
I’d call him during slow patrols for a chat. And a few weeks later, he began stopping by in the evenings. At first, the kids were cautious.
Adam stuck to my side, and Aria kept whispering questions about Colin’s arms. I didn’t answer all of them. I wanted her to get to know him on her own terms.
By the second month, Adam had already asked Colin to help come up with ideas for his science project. Aria insisted he sit beside her during cartoons. He laughed at all the right parts.
Alex took much longer. He watched from a distance, guarded. But one night, Colin helped set the table, using his stumps to balance the plates.
With no hesitation, Alex walked over and helped him with the cutlery. That was the moment something shifted. One evening, as we sat on the porch, I asked gently:
“Do you mind when people stare?”
“I used to,” Colin said, shrugging.
“Now? Not really. Although cotton candy is nearly impossible to eat.
And don’t get me started on ice cream cones.”
I laughed then — really laughed — for the first time in months. Colin never pushed. He never tried to be anything but present.
He didn’t try to replace Leo, and he didn’t need to. It was late at night, under a sky full of stars, when Colin leaned closer and gently brushed the side of my hand with the end of his arm. It was a soft touch, cautious at first.
When I turned my palm upward, he nestled his arm into it, and I held him like it was the most natural thing in the world. “I never thought I’d have something to live for again. But you…
you gave me that.”
“You gave it back to us too, Colin. All four of us.”
“Would you let me try to make you happy, Elena?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, and I meant it.
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