“Are your allergies bothering you?” he asked when he realized my face was swollen. He grabbed my shoulders, using his finger to tip my chin up and into the light. He flinched to see the pain he met there.

“I am having a hard time today,” I said pulling away from him as he pulled me back in. He folded his arms around me like a bat on a kiwi fruit. I felt the nuzzle of his nose in my hair. I felt his breath whisper “I am sorry” to my neck.

“Tell your sorry to make my soul stop hurting,” my face crumpled and puckered and bent. I felt his body sway to cradle us both.

“I wish it would,” he said as he let me go like a china doll. “You are really going to be OK. Oh my goodness look at you. Do you want some coffee? We can take a break and watch Foyle’s War?  It might help to get your mind on something else for awhile. You’ve been working all day. Take a break. Let yourself relax. Then back to work again. You have a plan Amber Garibay. Stay focused. I am still here, just in a different way. I am here though. Count on that.”