Once his lung treatments finished, Sam stumbled home, barely avoiding colliding with a sanitation worker in the corridor above his family’s quarters.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he jerked to the right.

“You OK, kid?” the older woman asked, yanking at an earlobe, probably to turn off her music.

Sam nodded. “Mostly. I’ll be fine after I get some dinner and a nap.”

She eyed him critically for a moment before nodding, tapping her earring, and returning to mopping the floor with a bounce that suggested she worked to dance music.

She reminded Sam of his grandma, and he smiled as he straightened up and forced himself to pay attention to where he was going.

Fortunately, the halls weren’t crowded, and he didn’t run into anyone else&...

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