Chapter 258: You Know I Love You
"You know I love you, right?" the woman asked.
Sophia's mouth made the shape of the answer as if trained—a simple, immediate echo. "Yes. I know." She forced the words into her throat, stated them like doctrine. She pressed the truth into her chest until it sat heavy and convincing.
She loves me, Sophia told herself. She's only doing this because I was stubborn. She is only doing this because I got myself sick.
"Good," the woman said, and placed a kiss on the crown of Sophia's head.
The kiss felt cool, perfunctory. It made Sophia's breath catch, and somewhere in the muddle of fever and fear, a small part of her believed it, because the body wants what it cannot have: warmth, belonging, absolution. Sophia repeated the phrase in her head, over and over: The woman loves me. The woman loves me. She let the mantra snag on the raw places until the phantom warmth of the lie pulsed like a heartbeat inside her.
