“I don’t want to be alone,” Caitlyne said, now only to herself, between heaving sobs. Her mom checked on her, promising to come to bed soon. “I don’t want to be alone,” she texted Gladys, who was on a couch 30 feet away. Caitlyne crumpled into the fetal position in front of her Barbie Dreamhouse. “It’s just 30 minutes, baby,” Gladys said, but by the time she left, her daughter had begun to weep. Gladys, who was attending graduate school to become a counselor, knew that for Caitlyne to go back to school, she would have to regain a measure of independence. She and Nef had accepted that it could take months before Caitlyne could sleep on her own again, but they hoped that small doses of time without her mom would inch her closer. “No,” Gladys said, forcing herself to say the word. “I guess,” she said, but when he stepped away, Caitlyne asked her mom if she could join them. Just then, Nef popped back in and asked Caitlyne if she wouldn’t mind Gladys watching a half-hour TV show with him in the living room. She’d been awake since 4 a.m., when Gladys got up to use the bathroom and Caitlyne followed, as she always did. “Three,” Caitlyne said, and they watched for about 10 minutes before her eyes began to fade. “Is this ‘Zombies’ 1 or 2?” Gladys asked, joining her daughters. When her mother came in, Caitlyne motioned to the bed: “I have a space for you.” “I love you to the moon and back,” they said in unison, mirroring hand gestures for each word. Cox will continue to follow Caitlyne and her family in the months to come.Ĭaitlyne opened a bucket of purple slime and pulled out a handful, kneading it atop her dresser until her dad stopped by for the nightly routine they’d started after the shooting. This was true for Caitlyne, Gladys and Nef before the story about Caitlyne was published. When he finishes his stories, Cox reviews the facts in them with the children and their parents to ensure accuracy and also to make them aware of all the details being revealed.
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