She looked at Julian.
“Then who is he?”
Marcus’ eyes filled again.
“He’s the reason I came home.”
Julian turned his face away.
Marcus gripped his shoulder.
“Don’t,” Julian muttered.
“She deserves to know.”
I looked between them, suddenly afraid of what Marcus was about to say.
He took a slow breath.
“During the mission, our unit was hit,” he began. “We couldn’t call home. We couldn’t explain anything because of where we were or what we were doing.”
His voice remained controlled, but his hand shook against Lily’s yellow dress.
“There was an explosion. I didn’t see it coming.”
Julian stared at the floor.
“Marcus,” he warned.
Marcus continued anyway.
“Julian did.”
The terminal around us had begun moving again, but I barely noticed. The noise seemed far away.
Marcus swallowed.
“He pushed me down and covered me. The shrapnel hit him instead.”
I looked at the scars across Julian’s face. Until that moment, I had seen only damage. Now I saw the story beneath it.
Julian touched the side of his jaw.
“It wasn’t heroic,” he said. “It was instinct.”
“You nearly died,” Marcus replied.
“So did you.”
“But I didn’t.”
Marcus’ voice cracked.
He pulled Lily closer, then looked at me.
“I didn’t because of him.”
My throat closed.
All those nights Lily and I had kissed the photograph and prayed for Marcus to come home, we had unknowingly been looking at the man who made that prayer possible.
I reached for Julian’s hand.
He flinched slightly, as though kindness hurt more than pain.
“Thank you,” I said.
His scarred face twisted.
“Please don’t.”
“I have to.”
He shook his head.
“I couldn’t leave him there. He talked about you both every day. He told me what Lily liked for breakfast. He told me about the time she colored the dog blue with sidewalk chalk. He carried one of her drawings in his vest.”
Marcus gave a weak laugh through his tears.
“She said the dog wanted to be a cloud.”
“I remember,” Julian replied.
Lily touched the scar on his cheek with one careful finger.
“Did it hurt?”
Julian looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did Daddy help you?”
“He stayed with me.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“I thought he was going to die.”
Julian’s voice softened.
“He wouldn’t let me.”
