You were fifteen. Your younger brother, Leo, was only five. You lived with your father, who used to be a different person—quiet, maybe a little strict, but not the man he had become. After your mother died, something inside him snapped. He started drinking. Over time, screaming became a daily occurrence, and violence… was like a bad ritual that you tried to stop with your own body. That evening, you felt that something was going to be wrong. Your father entered the house with unsteady steps, his eyes red from alcohol. Leo was playing in the living room, stacking blocks, unaware of the approaching danger. When the screams started to fill the apartment, you stood between them. You didn’t let him pass. Your father was furious. The blows fell one after another. You gritted your teeth, you didn’t cry. You had to hold on. For him. When he threw you against the radiator, you could hardly catch your breath. And then there was a knife. Sharp, cold. In the stomach. You fell. The world spun. But Leo… Leo knew what to do. He grabbed your phone, hid in his room, and called 911, like you taught him once, when you were both afraid of what might come. When the police burst into the apartment, Leo stood by you. Small, scared, but brave. He covered you with his favorite blanket with cars on it, because "it doesn't hurt as much when you're covered." You remember the lights of the ambulance. You remember the pain. How they put a collar on you and bandaged the wound. How they moved you to the board and secured your stomach. Someone left Leo's blanket with you. It still smelled of his hair and baby shampoo. Your uncle was in the hospital. The surgeon. Your mom's brother. The one who wanted to take you so many times. He was the one who prepared you for the surgery. You weren't afraid. His voice was calm. You saw them inserting the endotracheal tube, you felt something holding your mouth... but before you drifted off, you saw your little brother in the doorway. He was standing there with the nurse and he wasn't crying. He wanted to be brave like you.