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“Quiet, please,” the judge said. “Let’s bring the court back to order. I’m ready to hear the testimony about the defendant’s actions regarding Mister Fischer and his family on the night in question. Sir, please tell us what you’d like to say about Mister Daniels.”

Tom Fischer was clearly nervous. He cleared his throat and looked around. His wife gave him a quick and comforting smile that Caelyn found touching.

“Sorry,” Tom said, coughing. “I guess I didn’t prepare very well for this moment.”

The judge nodded at him. “Take your time, Sir. We’re not in any rush here. Well, accept for those that are counting down the minutes until lunchtime.”

There was muted laughter at this mild joke, but it seemed to help Tom Fischer relax. He started to talk. “You have to understand that my wife and daughters are absolutely everything to me, Your Honor. My wife and I met in high school and we were married after our senior years of college. She’s the love of my life, my best friend,
my
entire world.
And then my daughters, Theresa and Lila.
I’ve devoted all of my time to being a good dad, to raising these kids and keeping them safe. And you see…” Tom’s voice started to crack. “That night of the fire at our house…there was an electrical fire that started in the basement. That was my fault, Your Honor.”

Tom stopped and took a long, long pause.

The judge’s expression was intense and completely absorbed. He leaned forward, hand under his chin. “Do you need a moment before continuing?” he asked.

Tom Fischer shook his head. He looked at the judge. “This isn’t going to get any easier for me,” he said. “Like I was saying, about the fire…
It
was an accident, but it could’ve been prevented, and I’ll have that on my shoulders for the rest of my life. The other thing that I’ll always remember is waking up in the middle of the night as I inhaled smoke, feeling like I was choking to death, screaming, panicked, completely unable to protect myself or my family from danger. I didn’t protect them, but thank God somebody had the courage to do what I couldn’t do. And that person was Elijah Daniels,” Tom said, turning and looking at Elijah.

The judge nodded slowly. “Is that all, Sir?”

“No,” Tom Fisher said, turning back to the judge. “I mean, no, Your Honor,” he corrected himself. “I also want to say that there were dozens of people who did nothing that night—neighbors, friends, people who knew us and cared about us. Nobody tried to help except Elijah Daniels, and I understand why. Everyone was terrified. They didn’t want to risk their lives and I totally get that. But I also remember what it was like when I realized that this young man had risked his life multiple times in order to save four strangers. And on top of that, he knew that by doing so, he was almost certainly going to be arrested and sent to prison after he survived the ordeal.”

There was a heavy silence in the courtroom. After a long period of time had passed, the judge nodded. “The court thanks you for your testimony,” he said.

“One last thing, Your Honor,” Tom replied.

This brought a small smattering of chuckles from the courtroom audience.

“Go ahead, Sir,” the judge told him, leaning back in his seat now.

“It’s bad enough that I wasn’t able to save myself, my wife or my two children when they were nearly killed.” Tom Fischer’s voice broke as he said the words, but he continued speaking, even as he seemed to be breaking down. “That fact is something I’ll carry with me the rest of my days. But if I can’t even save the man who saved me and my family, then what does that say about me?”

Tom Fischer stepped back and his wife grabbed his hand as he looked down at the floor, clearly struggling to regain his composure.

The judge cleared his throat. He looked at everyone; including the lawyers, the family, the people sitting in the courtroom silently watching, and then lastly at Elijah.

“I think I can make my ruling now,” he said, his voice rising in volume. “I think I’ve heard enough.”

Caelyn could hardly breathe. She felt a stark terror seeping through her veins, as if someone was replacing her blood with ice. She couldn’t even think—time itself seemed to freeze in place as she waited for what the judge would say next.

“Mister Daniels, you are the definition of a common criminal,” he said, making a disgusted face as he stared Elijah down. “Your rap sheet is long and filled with crimes both petty and serious—misdemeanors and felonies—and its clear that you’re someone for whom a couple months in prison would never do the trick. Putting you away for a year would not teach you anything you don’t already know.”

Caelyn’s stomach dropped as if she was in free-fall, and she put a hand out to grab the bench in front of her to steady herself.

Oh my God. He’s going to give Elijah thirty years. He’s going to give him the maximum sentence.

“Most recently,” the judge said, “you escaped from prison and led the authorities on a multi-state chase, wasting precious resources and making a mockery of our justice system. For that, you should be ashamed. And for that, you should doubtless be punished. The question,” the judge continued, taking his glasses off entirely now, “is what are we to make of the heroics you displayed when you selflessly risked your own life and liberty to save the lives of four complete strangers?”

The judge paused for a long time and sighed deeply. “I’m inclined to say that it was one good act among many poor ones. And that one good act does not make up for all of the previous poor acts that seem to have defined your previous existence. However, Mister Fischer’s testimony has showed me a different side of things, illuminated the situation in a new way.”

Caelyn inhaled sharply, as the judge cracked an ambiguous smile. “I think that some people require a defining moment to show their true colors,” the judge went on, “to learn who they truly are, at a core.” He looked at Elijah and his face grew serious once more. “You’re not the sum of all of your crimes, Mister Daniels, although something tells me that perhaps you once believed that you were. No,” the judge said, his voice growing even louder, “you are your actions, you are the things that you do this moment and this moment and this moment. In the last month, beginning that fateful evening when you finally chose to serve someone other than yourself, you changed. You showed that you’ve changed by saving those people, and by turning yourself into the police, and by never making an excuse before this court. You threw yourself on the mercy of the court, and the court, in such cases, can sometimes be merciful indeed.”

The judge put his glasses back on. “I hereby sentence you to fifteen years in prison,” he continued, as if he’d said nothing strange at all.

Caelyn moaned, and she saw Elijah’s head bow ever so slightly, as the rest of courtroom groaned in protest.

“The fifteen year sentence is to be a suspended sentence,” the judge said, flashing a smile as if to relish the fact that he’d given everyone a scare, “and that suspended sentence is conditional upon you having no further convictions for any crime during the course of the next three years. If you do commit another crime, your sentence will then resume, for the full duration. Do you understand, Mister Daniels?”

“I do, Your Honor,” Elijah said.

“Thank me in three years, when you prove me right for believing in you,” the judge told him. “You are free to go, Mister Daniels.”

The judge than declared court in recess, and everyone got up and began to leave.

Caelyn put her face in her hands and cried, as she watched them unlock Elijah’s handcuffs and saw him and his lawyer embrace. Elijah was even classy enough to shake hands with prosecutor who’d just tried to put him away for decades.

She stood up and waited at a distance, but Elijah called her over instead. He waved at her, and as she approached, she tried to compose herself.

Elijah’s lawyer was talking to him. “Now, you’re going to be mobbed by reporters and tabloids and all kinds of people,” she told him. “You need to be quiet, don’t go talking to anyone yet. Let it all calm down.”

Caelyn joined them, hugging Elijah as he wrapped her in his strong arms. “Caelyn, this is my lawyer, Donna Maze. Donna, this is the girl who changed my life.”

Donna gave Caelyn an appraising glance. “I like your hair,” she said, then checked her phone. “You know my number, Elijah,” Donna told him. “I want you to call if you run into any more trouble. And remember what I said. No talking to the press for at least a week. Let things settle down.”

“I’ve got no interest in ever talking to the press. Well, maybe I’d talk to Anderson again,” he said, grinning.

“Oh, now he’s just Anderson?” Caelyn laughed, still wiping tears away.

Elijah chuckled. “He called me last night and wished me luck. We’re practically best friends.”

“I couldn’t get through to you once,” Caelyn said, shaking her head.

“Yeah, well—you’re not Anderson Cooper.”

He grabbed her hand, then, and they started walking for the door. When they got outside of the courthouse, the sun was shining brightly and the whole world looked alive, more alive and rich with color than Caelyn had ever seen it.

“Doesn’t it seem like anything’s possible?” Caelyn asked him.

He looked into her eyes with his usual grin, only now she saw something else there too. She saw a deep reservoir of love and kindness that had always seemed locked below the surface, somehow hidden from view. Finally, Elijah had let it out into the open, not hiding his true self from anyone anymore.

“Anything is possible,” he told her. Anything.”

EPILOGUE

Caelyn thought that her professor would never stop talking, but finally, Miss Springer told the class that their final paper was due next class, and then she told them all to have a great weekend.

Everyone got up, quickly gathering
their
things and beginning to leave all at once.

“I thought that was never going to end,” Amy said. Amy was a new friend that Caelyn had made since returning to school, and they got along well.

“Me either,” Caelyn replied as she shouldered her purse. Then the two of them started out of the building. “I swear to God, it was like she was intentionally torturing us, drawing everything out because she sensed we wanted to get out of here and start out weekends.”

“My weekend’s going to suck,” Amy said. “I’ve got way too much studying to do. What are you doing?”

Just as she asked that, the two of them saw Elijah coming across the quad toward them, the wind catching his hair and blowing it over his forehead.

“I guess that answers that question,” Amy said. “You really are so lucky it hurts, Caelyn.”

Caelyn glanced at her. “You wouldn’t have said that six months ago.”

“No, but I’m saying it now,” Amy replied.

Caelyn laughed and looked back at her dream come true.

He grinned, waving at them, dressed in a simple blue t-shirt and jeans, but looking amazing as always.

Some people walking nearby took notice of him—it was hard not to recognize Elijah, ever since his last appearance on CNN (his second time with Anderson) had gone viral and even been spoofed on Saturday Night Live. People loved Elijah, and it seemed everyone wanted to talk to him, wanted to hear about him. People felt like they knew him somehow.

But only I really do know him
, Caelyn thought, smiling, as they came together.

Elijah kissed her, not cutting it short, but really kissing her—right on campus, in broad daylight, in front of the school and the other students.

“Get a room,” Amy said.

Elijah broke off the kiss and looked at Caelyn’s friend. “If we got a room, you’d probably come sneaking around with binoculars anyway.”

“I’ve got better things to do with my time,” Amy told him, pretending to be offended. “Actually, I don’t,” she said,
then
gave Caelyn a quick peck on the cheek. “I should go but you two love birds have fun. Call me!”

Amy flitted away and Caelyn grabbed Elijah’s hand. She still couldn’t believe it was real, that he was real, after everything that had gone on and all the close calls. She’d never, in her wildest dreams, imagined that they’d get through it all the way they had.

“What do you want to do tonight, anyway?” Elijah asked, swinging his arm and hers with it.

“I don’t care,” she told him. “Maybe just go home and watch a movie together. Get some ice cream and lay on the couch.”

He laughed. “That’s what we did last Friday night.”

“Exactly!” she laughed, and then she kissed him, pulling him close, feeling his strong chest pressing against her. “I don’t need anything else but you.”

“Hey, I’ve got to tell you something pretty crazy,” he said, running a hand through his hair as he looked intently at her with his dark eyes.

“Yeah?”

“A Hollywood production company wants to make a movie about me.”

“You’re not serious, are you Elijah?”

He rolled his eyes. “I know it’s ridiculous, but they’re legit. They want to tie it in with a book and everything. It’s probably going to turn out to be a lot of money. My agent said well into the seven figures.”

“Well, that’s amazing, Elijah! Honey, that’s incredible! We should celebrate.”

“I don’t know if I want to do it, though,” he said, his expression getting serious. “I’ve got a lot of other plans and I don’t necessarily want to go Hollywood anytime soon.”