Kate wished that he would stop bringing up her father and brother's reaction. Never mind Joe. Joe had no right to judge anyone, being the formal family idiot. But she too was nervous about her father's response. Yet she did not want that to overshadow this moment with John. For the moment, she just wanted to exist in a space where they were happy to see each other again and the family problems did not exist. She almost told him as much, but he continued,

Her face grew grim as she listened to his account of how he had gotten injured. She had not realized before how close to death John had been. He had not told them so in his letters. Kate felt her eyes burn with tears she tried to fight back. She put her hand on his forearm once again. "Please promise me, whatever you do, you will not go into battle again."