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Maggie cried again plaintively as he reached her side and turned on the lamp on the bedside table She twitched, sweet face screwed up, and he shook her gently

“Baby, wake up It’s okay Everything’s okay”

Gasping, her eyes flew open, and she burst into wrenching tears that tore into Jason’s heart He rocked her, rubbing her back and ainst his bare chest

There was no ic reset button

They couldn’t pretend everything would just go back to norhtmare and she was safe, he knew he had to s his pride and take his parents’ offer to pay for therapy Anything that could help

Gulping as her sobs subsided, Maggie asked, “Can I sleep with you?”

“Of course Co her close as he carried her into the living roo the sheet around her

“Will you read me a book?”

“Sure Which one?” He’d read to her all night if it would take her nightmares away

She sniffled “Hospital”

His heart clenched as he kissed her forehead before returning to her room to scan the bookcase for the thin, faded yellow spine The top corner of the cover had already been torn off when he’d picked up the book at a second-hand shop for fifty cents The pages inside orn now too after the hundreds of tiie had read it

He turned on the lamp beside the futon and propped up a few pillows at the end before stretching out She cuddled into the burrow of his ar the title, as he’d always done when reading to her

“Curious George Goes to the Hospital”

He hadn’t read it in a couple years, Maggie long since moved on to books with more words and fewer pictures But he still knew the tale of the mischievous monkey, his owner—the man with the yellow hat—and a sed puzzle piece that lands George in the hospital almost by heart

He savored each word as he read with Maggie warhter could have stayed innocent forever

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lightsabers clashed, cartoon characters battling in The Clone Wars Maggie watched avidly, scraping her cereal bowl for every bit of sugary ranola cereals in the apartrocery delivery