Caleb sat frozen in the backseat of the minivan, his tiny fists gripping the seatbelt so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Normally he would leap out of the car the second it stopped — running toward Nurse Maya with stories about recess, dinosaurs, or what he built with blocks that day.
But not today.
Today, he couldn’t move.
It had been only a month since his father left without a word. One morning he was there… and the next, gone.
Caleb’s world had crumbled, and suddenly even safe places felt frightening.
His mother opened the door, her voice soft from crying.
“Come on, sweetheart… it’s time.”
Caleb shook his head.
“I… I can’t, Mom. What if something bad happens?”
Nurse Maya, who had cared for his asthma since he was a toddler, knelt beside him. She saw it instantly — this wasn’t just fear of a simple procedure. This was a little boy terrified of losing something else.
“Caleb,” she whispered, “it’s okay to be scared. But look at your mom.”
She gently guided his hand into his mother’s trembling one.
“She’s scared too. But she’s here. She needs you. And you’re stronger than you think.”
Caleb’s eyes filled with tears. He remembered the empty dinners. His mother’s quiet sobs at night. The silence his father left behind.
Maya smiled gently.
“I’ll be with you every step. But you have to take the first one.”
Caleb took a shaky breath… unbuckled… and climbed out, holding his mother’s hand tightly.
The fear was still there —
but now, so was courage.
