It will be as if I'd never existed, he'd
promised me. I felt the smooth wooden floor beneath my knees,
and then the palms of my hands, and then it was pressed against
the skin of my cheek. I hoped that I was fainting, but, to my
disappointment, I didn't lose consciousness. The waves of
pain that had only lapped at me before now reared high up and
washed over my head, pulling me under.
I did not resurface.