"You okay?" I ask.
"Yeah. Just—" She wraps her arms around herself. "Processing."
"Want to talk about it?"
She laughs softly. "That's all I've been doing today. Talking. First Mom, then Trisha and Angela, then Astrid and Geirolf. I'm talked out."
"Then we don't have to talk." I cross to her, pull her into my arms. "We can just... be."
She melts against me, her head finding that spot on my chest where it fits perfectly.
We stand like that for a long moment.
Just breathing.
Just existing together.
"I already know," she says quietly. "About the little girl. About what you did."
My arms tighten around her. "I couldn't leave her."
"I heard you went against orders. That you compromised the investigation."
"I did."
"And you'd do it again."
It's not a question.
"In a heartbeat."
She pulls back to look at me, her green eyes searching my face.
"You could've been killed. Those men—they had guns. You could've died trying to save her."
"But I didn't."
"But you could have." Her voice cracks. "And now you're going after them again. You're going to put yourself in danger again, and I'm supposed to just—what? Wait here and hope you come back?"
"Ingrid—"
"How am I supposed to do that?" Tears spill over, tracking down her cheeks. "How am I supposed to let you walk out that door knowing you might not come back? I just found you. I just stopped running. And now?—"
I cup her face, brush the tears away with my thumbs.
"Hey. Look at me."
She does.
"I can't promise nothing will happen. I can't promise the raid won't be dangerous. But I can promise that I'll do everything in my power to come back to you. Because I have something to come back to now. Someone."
"That's not enough."
"It has to be. It's all I have."
She closes her eyes, more tears escaping. "I'msoscared, Gunnar."
"I know. Me too."
