Michael Carmac is a small-town cop on the verge of a breakdown. After a split-second decision leaves an innocent child dead, Michael's reality unravels. Suffering from PTSD, he finds comfort in a bottle while struggling to find forgiveness.<br><br>Fellow officer Bertram Angel offers Michael support, and what starts as friendship turns into something deeper. Can the two men find love, forgiveness, and acceptance while moving forward and healing wounds that don't always show?

The Incident

There would have been a time when his mind would have jumped at the thought of abandoning life and indeed would have started slip sliding into darkness, but now there seemed to be something else inside him, something he’d thought had all been extinguished. Michael didn’t care who or what the reason was that he felt the way he did. He was grateful to feel that maybe he was going to get through the blackness. If Angel was the light, then he would gladly continue to follow it


He turned the radio on then opened the windows of the truck and felt the warm air, heard the old rock music, and tasted what he could only guess was the sweetness of freedom.


After a long, much-needed shower, Michael went to his bed and lay down for a nap. Long day, crazy-ass week, and he hadn’t really had a drink. His mind felt full and his heart was taking on the overflow. How had he shut himself off for so long? He switched on the oscillating fan by his bed and let the hum lull him into sleep.


Chapter 22