"If our worth is the value others place on us, then yes. You are wrong. Because I value you, Tom," she keeps her eyes on him while she says this, even if he's avoiding eye contact, but then shifts her vision away to give him a reprieve from her gaze.

She bites her lip so hard she winces at that. It's a difficult line to tread, wanting to protect her son, the single most important person in her world, against what she knows is better for the safety of everyone. Any step away from viciously defending Marco feels like a betrayal. It feels like she's going to ask her smart, brave son to put a Yeerk back in her hands. Finally she sighs and says "I can't hold his paranoia against him, Tom. Not if he's not going to hold my injuries against me."

She reaches over and pets the dog. "I can't say I won't. You deserve better than mealy-mouthed promises that may not keep. But I don't want to keep contributing to this toxic climate for you. You're more than his ghost, you know."

She looks around at the garden, lip tucked in her teeth, rolling her thumb over her finger over and over.