Impact

It struck Claire how many lives could shatter in a minute. How many people in the world died every second. How many tears a human being could possibly release in a day, without even dehydrating.

Words were unspoken after Aimee threw a fit. The man she had once loved with all her heart sat there in silence, as if they were two strangers who had never shared passion and heat.

Claire finally took the first step in breaking the silence.

“So, how did you hear?”

“I actually saw it on the news,” he replied, a little awkwardly.

“Oh, I didn’t know Riley made it up there. He always did want to be on TV,” Claire smiled.

Robert nodded, and Claire guessed he was uneasy. She didn’t want to ask any life and death questions, but so many ran through her mind.

“What made you come back… after the funeral, I mean?” Claire asked, afraid of angering him.

“I have one kid left, now. I thought that maybe if I keep in close touch with her, it’ll make up for missing so much of Riley’s life.”

Claire nodded, though inside her mind pounded and shrieked, calling him nasty things.

“She’ll forgive you. She always did love you more,” Claire chuckled.

“I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I promise you that I am sorry. I shouldn’t have left you guys like that. I shouldn’t have left you like that. It was the biggest mistake I ever made.”

“I’m sorry that it took you so long. I forgive you, but don’t expect any mending to happen. You can’t recreate a family from the ground up, so what makes you think you can when we’re even lower than that?”