Simon said nothing, he just closed his eyes. He felt more and more weary and exhausted, but he didn’t want Saolla to go yet.
“But you…” he began, and Saolla laughed dryly.
“I was naïve. That’s why I could be broken. My soul was torn,” she said, and after a long silence, she added, “and so was my body.”
Simon immediately opened his eyes and looked querulously at Saolla, but finally did not pose the question because he felt that it would have been too indiscreet. He would have been crossing all lines of decorum. The woman stood up from the chair, walked over to the window, and looked out for a little while, then returned to the hospital bed. She placed her thin, delicate fingers on Simon’s forehead, held them there for a moment, then stroked the man’s face.
“I will go now, because you mu
