hat burned. The doctor told me I had a mild concussion and a dislocated shoulder. They reset it, a moment of sharp, searing pain that made

, passionate and driven. I fell for her intelligence, her intensity. I loved her so much that when her research required a move to a city with fewer opportunities for me, I didn't

was often too busy to eat. I had poured everything I had into this relationship, and for what? To be a recurring problem she could solve

ere, her white dress now looking out of place and slightly stained. She had a smal

d, her voice soft and hypnotic. "I

erformance was so familiar. It was the same tone she used every time. The concern was

my voice hoarse.

d and opened it. Inside, nestled in foam, was her equip

sunderstanding. Kyle was just being stupid. Let me help you. Let me make the pain go away

ng over me. She really thought she could do it again

. "There is no wedding. There is no

l the previous cycles, I had always been too brok

uly looked at me, and for the first time, I saw a fl

asked, her voice losin

feet, ignoring the throb in my head and the ache in m

lse, something harder and more dangerous.

're just hurt and confused. You're concussed. You're n

arned, backing away unt

a menacing whisper. "I've invested too much in you, in us. We have a li

ious betrayals, nine erasures, as one stupid n

ull away, but she was surprisingly strong

she murmured, her face close t

ure, the tenth one, seemed to unlock something in my mind. It was like a da

our half-finished living room, the s

t, their bodies tangled on a

she said she was taking alone, a receip

. nothing. The pain, the anger, the humiliation, all of it came rushing back at once, a tidal wave of agony from a past I wasn't supposed to remember. I

world we