The Patient Quotes

“Stories like Flora's need to be told. No one - not her father, a boyfriend or any other man - ever owned her. Girls and women need to know: that they can be heard. They can survive. And this is for Flora - to finally set her free”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“My father. The one I always wanted to impress, but somehow never quite managed to, did I? It was all Flora in his eyes. But I was the lucky one”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“In the morning I walk back across the park after my shift. Stop, sit on a bench. The sun is shining - the park is beautiful this time of day, peaceful - but there is grime around the edges, as there always is in a city. In leafy villages and expensive independent schools, too, if you know where to look”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“It's like the pain of losing Flora has shifted focus, as if Saphy gives her something else to think about. Someone she can save when she couldn't save Flora”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“Fear may generally be a stronger emotion than curiosity”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“I hold it in my hand. This is it: a letter from someone I don't know, who did something amazing, something selfless, at what was likely the worst moment of their lives. To do this for someone you don't even know, may never meet? Well. How do I even begin to thank them for this?”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“Doctors always want an explanation for things that can't be explained”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“Some unknown person, dying - someone else's heart beating on inside of me after they've gone. What could be a new life for me is the end of another, the sorrow of some other family, friends”
― Teri Terry, The Patient

“Everyone has to die. Life and death are two sides of one coin; it's part of the deal and there is no opt-out clause or higher court of appeal”
― Teri Terry, The Patient