Page 37 of Never Forget
"Yeah? Can I see?"
She tugged his hand. "Come inside first."
Sam looked up at me over her head, something tender crossed his face. I stepped back to let him in.
Once Rosie had dragged him to the kitchen to show him her crayons, he turned back to me and held out his hand. A watch sat in his palm. Silver band, simple face, worn around the edges from years of use.
"It was in his bunk," Sam said. "Someone found it when they were cleaning out.”
I took it. The metal was warm from his hand. I turned it over, feeling the weight of it, the smoothness of the band where Jack's wrist had worn it down.
"Thank you." The words came out rough. "For bringing it."
Sam nodded. Behind us, Rosie was already back at the table, pulling out more crayons.
"Uncle Sam, look!" She held up her drawing. A house with a red roof. Stick figures in the yard. One of them was wearing what looked like a firefighter's helmet.
Sam crouched down beside her again. "What's this?"
"That's Daddy," she said, pointing. "He's waving at me from the clouds."
Something crossed Sam's face. A flicker of pain, quickly buried.
"That's really good," he said. "He'd love it."
Rosie nodded seriously. "I'm going to make him lots of pictures. So he can see them."
Sam looked at me. I looked back. Neither of us said anything.
After a while, Rosie went back to her coloring, and Sam and I drifted toward the living room. Close enough to keep an eye on her, far enough to talk.
"I had lunch with Megan and Danny today," I said.
"Yeah? How are they?"
"Good. The boys are getting big." I paused. "Megan told me some things. About the department. The way things work."
Sam's expression shifted. Guarded now. "What kind of things?"
"The fragmentation. The staffing issues. Dispatchers who can't send backup without the captain's say-so." I watched his face. "She said she's looked into it. National standards versus how Havensworth operates."
Sam was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded slowly. "She's not wrong."
"So it's true. The system is broken."
"Parts of it." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's complicated. There are reasons things are the way they are. History. Politics. Budget. It's not as simple as just fixing it."
"But people know. People inside the department know it's broken."
"Some do. Yeah."
I thought about what Megan had said. About LODD. About what Rosie was owed.
"I'm going to push for reclassification," I said. "Jack's death. I want it recognized as line of duty."
Sam's eyes met mine. He didn't look surprised.
"That's worth fighting for," he said.
