"Oh, no, no, no," she says, a persistent sort of clucking as she shakes her head and tips it to the side, reaching to take his hands. "You can't think of yourself that way. You've been so brave. It takes real bravery to go through what you did and - oh, well, you know what I mean."

There's a part of her that's afraid that he'll think she's foolish, that her words are silly, and it's so difficult to pretend that isn't so. She doesn't like to think about things as dark as this, but the truth is right there and he ought to know it.