“Thank you, Torben, for caring for me,” I said after several heartbeats of silence. “It is not a hardship, Allete.” His eyes burned with an intensity that held me in place. I didn’t want to move for fear that he would look away. For some reason, that was the last thing I wanted him to do. “Actually, caring for another person is always a hardship. It is in our nature to care for ourselves first,” I told him. “Sometimes, yes. But then, sometimes, we come across a person who means more to us than ourselves. Sometimes we do anything for that person. Then there is no hardship.”
