Without the dignity.
Without the patient, managing expression.
She looked at me the way people look when the thing they have been covering is no longer covered.
She said: I’m sorry, dear.
She said it quietly.
She said it to me specifically.
She said: you should have taken the settlement.
I said nothing.
I had nothing to say.
The apology was real.
The apology was also, in its own way, an additional confession.
The judge called a recess.
During the recess, things happened quickly in the specific way of things that have been waiting to happen and that are now happening.
Thomas’s lawyer spoke to Thomas in a corner of the hallway.
The conversation was brief.
Thomas’s expression changed several times during it.
When it was over, Thomas’s lawyer came to Diane.
He said: my client would like to discuss a revised settlement.
Diane said: I’m sure he would.
