I pause at the doorway, holding there for a long moment and bracing myself against it for what I’m gonna say next. “Haze… I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was… finding my parents like that…” I’m searching for the right words and failing. “It tore a hole in me. I was terrified it was going to happen again, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it. That it would be you next time.”
