Numb
by feldman
You'll wrap your arms around him, hold him tighter than the chains ever held you. You won't notice the ring digging into his cheek until the pressure on your collarbone aches and he shrugs himself out of your embrace.
The amputations won't shock you, the damage mute testament of a family ripped apart. Your sorrow will feed your determination to make it right. You'll reach out to soothe the scars.
You will hear him tell you that
he had held the blade, severed his own exquisitely sensitive flesh, and that
will shock you every time you look into his eyes.