Shouldn't have

"I deserve a fate worse than this." Gunner continues to look down, seeming to withdraw slightly. He was cold, and had never felt such misery. It was even worse than when he had discovered he had lost all memory of his life.

At the mention of Hope giving him dry clothes, he stands up abruptly, the towel dropping onto the chair. "I shouldn't have come," he mumbles. Turning too quickly, his hand catches the cup of tea, sending it sprawling across the table and onto the floor, making a mess.

He gives a little jump, heat rising to his face, even though he was still cold. "I'm sorry."

Kneeling down to try and mop up some of the tea with a napkin, his eyes suddenly burn. Just like the tea was splattered across the floor, he felt his life had been driven into a thousand directions, a mess he felt no one could clean up. His breath catches in his throat, helplessness driving the motion of his hands. But even when there is no puddle of tea left, he still wipes the floor.


Jeff manages a light chuckle and he squeezes Katie's hand, his eyes falling shut again. "She was... like you. Her eyes were gray blue like a moonlit pond... her heart was as big as the sun."

His voice is weak and hoarse, but he continues anyway. "She loved life... and loved me, though I never knew why. She loved roses and dreamed of a house in the country where... where she could plant rows and rows of bushes."

A tear escapes his closed eye and falls to the pillow. "She couldn't wait to hold you."