Jolie pov

"Why would that matter?" But her voice has lost some of its intensity. "If I can't feel, whether I remember feeling is irrelevant."

"Is it?" I extend my hand across the table, palm up. An offer, not a demand. "Let me show you something."

She looks at my hand like it's a foreign object.”What would you show me?"

"What empathy feels like." I meet her eyes. "Just for a moment. No damage, no force. Just a glimpse of what connection is supposed to be."

"Why?" Suspicion colors her ...