– Do you know when it stops hurting ?
Percy froze an instant, hesitating. He knew exactly what she was referring to, yet wasn’t certain how to word his response. It was only a whisper when he replied :
– It doesn’t really stop. Eventually you get used to it a little, and it becomes smaller, and it hits you less often. But it’s here all the same.
She nodded and, slowly, sunk her head on Percy’s shoulder. He felt tears wetting the fabric of his shirt. There was nothing he could do but hug her – try to give her some kind of anchor point in a path he also knew. He couldn’t bring her parents or her brother back. Nor his own family.
– It was my fault, she sniffled.
– You didn’t do anything wrong, Claire.
She lifted her head up to face him, her face streaked with tears. Trembling, she continued :
– They all knew there was something wrong with me. They- they didn’t say it to my face. But they thought about it all the time.