The night passed in a blur of fluorescent lights and hourly checks by the pediatric nurses.

I didn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the cold metal of the utility room door handle that wouldn’t turn.

At seven o’clock the next morning, the doctor cleared me to leave.

My body was sore, and my head throbbed from the stress, but I forced myself into my clothes.

We walked down to the pediatric unit to see Sam before we left for the courthouse.

He looked so small under the blue light, but his color was better.

“I’ll be back soon, sweetie,” I whispered, pressing my forehead against the plastic glass.

Leo put his hand on the small of my back. “We have to go, Grace.”

The Des Moines municipal courthouse was a grey concrete block that smelled of wet wool and floor wax.

The rain was coming down hard, streaking the high windows of the lobby.

We took the elevator to the third floor.

Josephine was already sitting on the wooden bench outside the courtroom.

She wore a dark blue suit, her silver hair pinned back perfectly.