“You cut it, Nellie,” Alistair said.
“We will do it together,” she said. “He was our boy.”
They cut the white ribbon together.
Inside, Nellie stopped in front of a big wall painting. It showed Sawyer in a white doctor’s coat, surrounded by kids and old people. Below it were the words from his school book:
“First the person is healed; then their name is asked.”
Nellie touched the wall and cried.
“I am here, my love,” she whispered. Alistair stood next to her quietly.
“I came late, son,” Alistair said to the wall. “But I will finish your dream.”
Nellie wept. She did not forgive him that day, and maybe she never could. But she saw that he was turning his guilt into real help for others.
Months later, the judge sent Katie to prison for a long time. In the court, she asked to speak to Nellie one last time.
