The day before we were set to evacuate and return to Fairmont, Ethan blocked my way.
"Claire, can we talk? Please."
Looking at the way he lowered himself in front of everyone, I eventually sighed.
When we reached a quiet place, he pulled me tightly into his arms.
But I did not react.
I heard him apologize. "Claire, I'm sorry."
He let go of me, then brought up the same things he had said to me over the phone on the day I left St. Catherine's Medical Center.
He said it was not that he didn't love me. He only felt that I did not love him enough.
He had only wanted to get my attention.
I asked him whether he had seen the box I left on the table when I moved out.
He froze.
I sighed.
In truth, my asthma had relapsed that day because I had been working around the clock, and then my em
