I look around the house for Alex, but I haven’t found him. Giving up, I am about to go back to bed when I notice someone sitting outside. The porch light is off, but I can see a silhouette. I grab a bottle of wine, two glasses, and my jacket before going outside. I sit next to Alex on the porch. He looks at me and smiles. I offer him a glass of wine, and he accepts it. Alex pulls me closer to him when I shiver from the cold night air. Neither of us has said anything. We are just sitting next to each other and looking up at the stars. The overcast is making them hard to see, but now and then, I can see one. I’m not sure how much time passes before I begin speaking, “I don’t want to send him to prison if he was sick. I don’t want him back or him to come near us again, but I want him to get t
