When I sat up, Stella asked, "Are you okay?"I said nothing. I was caught in the realization I was not allowed to be happy.All the blissful moments I shared with Jolene suddenly seemed like a dream.And now that I had woken up, I must return to the darkness.Stella waited. But since I didn't speak, she slowly approached and sat on my bed, eventually reaching out to feel my temperature."Don't touch me," I rasped. "I'll get sick whenever you do."Stella paused, her eyes moist with tears—a look the haughty girlboss had never shown me before.She began, "John, I didn't know—"I turned sharply towards her, stopping her as I glared at her under the moon's glow.Even the guilt on her face felt fake to me."Do you really not know?" I asked quietly, even as I felt the phantom pain on my left foot. "Oh, but I think you do—when it comes to loan sharks, a beating is mercy, while dismemberment is the standard operating procedure. Or you're saying you didn't know that either?"Oh, but I
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