I left home to escape my father’s world. I came back because I didn’t know where else to go. When my father is murdered, everything I ran from is waiting for me. The city. The family. The expectations I never wanted. Thirty days of leave. That’s all I give myself. Just long enough to show up, help where I can, and disappear again. I don’t plan on getting involved. I don’t plan on staying. And I definitely don’t plan on her. She’s calm where I’m coiled tight and grounded where I’m always bracing for impact. A doctor who knows what trauma looks like, and sees straight through my defenses. She asks questions I don’t answer. Looks at me like I’m more than the damage I carry. And makes me feel things I buried a long time ago. I tell myself it’s temporary. That whatever this is doesn’t matter. That I don’t belong here anymore. But the closer she gets, the harder it is to leave. And the more I realize the truth I’ve been avoiding. I know how to survive war. I don’t know how to survive wanting something that feels like home.