Silence.
His heartbeat changed.
"Eli."
Claire closed her eyes.
Nathan's voice became quieter.
"What happened to Eli?"
Daniel turned away.
Nathan grabbed Claire's shoulders.
Not painfully.
But urgently.
"What happened to my son?"
"He got sick."
Everything stopped.
Nathan stared at her.
"What?"
Claire started crying.
"He got sick."
"When?"
"January."
Nathan calculated instantly.
Eight months earlier.
He remembered January.
Eli had missed two video calls.
Claire said flu.
Another week, he wore a hat indoors.
She said he'd just come back from playing outside.
Nathan's stomach dropped.
"What sick?"
Claire couldn't answer.
Nathan shook her gently.
"What sick?"
Daniel said it.
"Leukemia."
Nathan let go of Claire.
The word was too large for the room.
He looked toward the stairs.
Then back at her.
"No."
Claire sobbed.
"Nathan—"
"No."
He pointed upstairs.
"He looks fine."
"He is doing better."
Nathan stared.
"Leukemia?"
"Acute lymphoblastic leukemia."
His breathing became shallow.
"No."
Claire reached for him.
He stepped away.
"You would've told me."
She cried harder.
"You would have told me."
"Nathan—"
"You would have called."
"I wanted to."
"You would have called my command."
"I did."
That stopped him.
Nathan looked at her.
"What?"
"I called."
"When?"
"The first night."
Nathan's face tightened.
His assignment had been attached to a highly compartmentalized operation.
Family emergency channels existed.
His command knew how to reach him.
"They didn't tell me."
Claire shook her head.
"I told them not to."
Nathan stared.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then he laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because his brain could not process the sentence.
"You..."
He looked around the room.
"You told the Army not to tell me my son had cancer?"
Claire nodded through tears.
Nathan stepped backward.
"Why?"
She could barely speak.
"Because of where you were."
"I don't care where I was."
"I did."
"He's my son!"
"I know!"
"No, you don't!"
Eli's bedroom door opened upstairs.
All three adults froze.
Nathan immediately lowered his voice.
A small shadow appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Dad?"
Nathan looked up.
Eli was staring down.
Fear in his face.
Nathan forced his expression to soften.
"Hey."
"Are you mad?"
Nathan's heart cracked.
"Not at you."
"Mom's crying."
"I know."
Eli looked at Daniel.
Then Nathan.
"Is Daniel in trouble?"
Nathan could barely answer.
"No."
Daniel looked down.
Eli asked, "Can I come down?"
Nathan wanted to say no.
Wanted ten minutes.
An hour.
A lifetime to process.
Instead, he nodded.