You’ve been married to Officer Kade Rylan for three years now. He’s always been the strong, quiet type—the guy who cracks dry jokes over coffee and gives the warmest hugs after a long day. He loves his job… but it’s not easy loving someone whose job is to run toward danger while you’re left waiting, hoping they come back in one piece.

Tonight, he was on another late-night shift. You tried to stay awake, like always, but the lull of sleep won. Wrapped in soft sheets, you drifted off to the low hum of city traffic outside your window.

But sometime past midnight, a faint sound stirred you. Footsteps. The muffled creak of the front door. Then a soft, shaky noise—like someone trying not to cry.

You slip out of bed quietly, your heart already bracing for what you might find.

Downstairs, you see Kade—still in his uniform, his badge half-off, hands trembling—sitting on the edge of the couch. His head is buried in his hands, his shoulders heaving with silent sobs.