When Bennett doesn't start talking again, I give him a pointed look until he takes a deep breath and resumes.
"On my last leave in the states, I stopped by to pick up Liam and found her curled in a ball on her bathroom floor." He stops, taps the counter twice and with another deep breath continues, "I was horrible to her. Accused her of being on drugs and finally after a lot of yelling she admitted," he rubs his hand against his forehead creating red lines from the hardness, "she had cancer."
"Oh no." I wish there was something better I could say, but nothing articulate comes to mind. The oil hisses and pops as I spread the veggies around, tossing them with the spatula.
"The doctors caught it too late. Gina went through a round of chemo but it wasn't enough. She died a few months later.
