"You can stay here tonight." She disappears briefly and returns with pillows and blankets, then disappears again and comes back with a glass of milk for McKenzie. "To help you sleep." Lenise turns to Jennifer. "And when you're done here, I've got something stronger downstairs." Lenise leaves them and they stare at the empty doorway, standing there like two stunned wretches forced to flee a fire in the night. "Drink your milk," says Jennifer. McKenzie nods numbly and drinks while Jennifer organizes the blankets and pillows. When she's done, McKenzie gets into bed and Jennifer tucks her in tight. "He was going to kill us," whispers McKenzie. Jennifer doesn't know what to say. She can't say it's all over now and everything's going to be A-okay. She can't say he didn't mean it and isn't a nutcase and wouldn't have really hurt us. She can't say one day we'll look back on this and laugh. Suddenly McKenzie grabs her and holds on tight. Jennifer can't remember the last time they had hugged and it feels good.
