All he can do is cry. He's overwhelmed by emotion, he always has been, and this is so strong. This thought is so strong, and raw, and so painful, and every time it bubbles up to the surface, from where he shoved it down and locked it away in the dark, he wonders if it will ever truly go away.

It's a thought he's had ever since he was a child and he spent idle moments imagining she'd come back for him someday. It's a thought that only worsened those miserable days in the UP hospital when they'd grafted new skin to most of his body after she'd nearly burned him alive. She said she'd had him to try to feel--and felt nothing.

It's a thought he hasn't been able to shake for his entire life.