“She was bitten because I complained, Waverly. Don’t you remember? I complained that it was cold and that we didn’t have any blankets. Then she…she…” His tears turned into sobs as he crouched to the ground, holding his belly. His stomach tightened so hard that he threw up on the ground in front of him.

I rubbed his back, not really knowing what to say but, “It’s not your fault…it’s not your fault,” over and over.

It was just like Hattie. She heard the simple complaint that her son was cold, and she felt guilty about it. There was an outlet mall not far from us at the time and while we were asleep, she went out to find some blankets. She came back with a bite and scratches instead.

“We can’t let her wake up,” he said.

“I know.”

“I don’t know if I can do it.”

“I know.” He wanted me to do it, but I wasn’t certain that I could either. He knew that Hattie was close to me too, but she wasn’t my mother - despite the fact that she was more of a mother to me than my own. I rubbed his back one more time and stood up and walked away from him, back into the restaurant.

I knelt beside Hattie again and watched her face. Even though she was dead, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I reached for her hand again, this time finding the small diamond and gold ring that was once a symbol of her devotion and love, recently serving as a symbol of love lost and torn away. But Hattie wouldn’t have seen it that way. She would have seen it as a reminder that love still exists as long as we exist.

I slipped it from her finger and held it out in my palm. Almost every girl thought about the day when a man would kneel down and offer her a ring such as this, declaring his undying love for her in a way that no other could. I thought about how such a thing would probably never happen to me. It wasn’t a thought of self-pity, rather, a thought of finality. I didn’t have the same hope that Hattie had in her last moments. I didn’t see a future where all would be made right and a cure would be found. Even if someone did cure the greyskin virus, they would never be able to fix the broken hearts of all those that lost someone to it. They would never be able to replace the people long gone. The effect of the outbreak would be a mark on the world forever. The future had been altered for everyone because of it. Generations upon generations would feel our pain in some way or another.