Agonizing seconds went by, then he strode to the door and paused with his hand on the knob. He pinched his eyes closed. But it was his low, tortured admission that clawed her from the inside out.

"I wish it had been me."

The door shut quietly behind him.

Time collapsed and the room vacuumed of oxygen. The longer she stood in the middle of the room, alone and gutted, the more she bled out until she was a numb, vacant shell.

Had she been too quick to ...