I gently pulled my hands out of his grasp and held his hands. "Paul, I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it."

He shook his head. "I didn't leave because of what you said. It doesn't matter right now. Kim, what I don't understand is how you could make the decision to die. What were you thinking? Was it me?"

"No, no, no. It wasn't you." I looked past him at the wall. "Mostly it was Tige and an overwhelming desire to protect him. But I'll admit that it wasn't all ...