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Every month her long-broken heart shattered anew. A little hand gripped hers tighter. Please, please, she thought. Don't let this be another struggle. Resigned, her son stepped in, his expression the look of a child unable to comprehend he would hurt his mother. She strained against the gush of tears threatening to burst. Locking the door, her sobs released.
At the hallway's end, his siblings huddled, holding one another, wide-eyed, trembling. He would hurt them too though they had escaped the horror she shared with their sibling. His screams reverberated off the walls. "Why, mommy? Why?"
