[She misinterprets. Apology after apology rises in her throat; she chokes them all down. This isn’t about her…]

You didn’t have to be alone.... [But Aubrey’s not not at fault, is she? This guilt can’t be for nothing. Four long, lonesome years, and not once did she reach out; not in four years, not in two months, not until someone else’s distress hit her cold and dead.

[She’s so fucking stupid.]

You didn’t. And now you… [It takes some sputtering, but she forces it out.] You don’t have to be....