The trouble with this specific breed of pain, she thought, was that she’d not lost herself. The qualities that had long been integral to her character and being, the desires that had always existed within her—to be successful; to be a good friend, daughter, employee; to be healthy and presentable and desirable—they all still existed. They pulsed through Adelaide with the same regular rhythm and pace. She still cared. But she’d lost her ability to fulfill these duties, to check these boxes.
