“It’s overwhelming, loving like this,” I said weakly, my chest aching and aching. “My heart feels like an open wound. I don’t understand how everyone just … walks around with the knowledge that everyone they love will soon be dead. I look at my sister, my mum, and it’s all I can see. Inevitable loss. I look at them and I think, I love you so much, and we will one day lose each other forever, and I might die from the pain of it. So I try to pull myself back, to detach, to keep a healthy distance, like you do, but I can’t. I can’t.” I sniffed back the tears threatening to surge afresh. “And part
...more
