Callaghan watched them walk out of the courtroom, hand in hand, stepping into a world that was a little less gray than it had been that morning.
The judge turned back to his empty courtroom. He looked at his wheelchair sitting behind the bench. It looked like a relic. A cage he had unlocked.
He adjusted his robe, gripped his cane, and walked toward his chambers. The pain in his legs was there, sharp and biting, but for the first time in a long time, it felt like a good pain. It felt like the pain of healing.
Justice had been served. And Judge Raymond Callaghan was finally standing tall enough to see it.
