Chapter 15 - Safe and Warm
"Mommy?"
Clara turned away from the video screen and leaned down over the bed. "I'm right here, my love."
Leo was sitting up against three soft pillows. The violet tint on his lips had completely disappeared, replaced by a healthy, rosy glow. His hands were wrapped in soft white bandages with healing ointment, but the terrible cold had left his bones. On the bedside table sat a large bowl of vanilla pudding and a warm cup of apple cider Maria had brought that morning.
"Are we going home now?" Leo asked, his brown eyes clear and bright.
"Yes, baby," Clara smiled, tears sparkling in her eyelashes. "We’re going to our home. The little yellow house by the creek. With the wood stove, your blue blanket, and the big tire swing in the backyard."
Leo thought about it for a second, then his face broke into the first real, radiant smile Clara had seen since the day the court had taken him away. "Can we build a snowman? A nice one?"
Clara chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around him and burying her nose in his clean, warm hair. "We can build ten snowmen. And whenever you get cold, we’ll come inside, drink hot chocolate, and we’ll never, ever lock the door."
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Through the window of the pediatric recovery wing, the fierce blizzard had finally blown itself out. The clouds parted over the rugged peaks of the Colorado Rockies, revealing a brilliant, piercing blue sky bathed in golden morning light. The snow across the valley sparkled not like sharp shards of broken glass, but like a clean, untrodden path leading straight into a brand new life.
Holding her son tight against her chest, Clara listened to the slow, steady rhythm of his heart beating against hers—warm, safe, and entirely free.
