The next day I was up and by Fred’s side before anyone else was awake. I grabbed some bread and cheese and ate it on the way there, walking the unfamiliar route to the cabin I only went to once before. I let myself in quietly, trying not to wake Fred’s wife or the baby. I had nightmares all night long about him, tossing and turning in my uncomfortable sleeping bag. What Jem said kept ringing through my head, and it made me cringe when I thought it, but I couldn’t stop reliving the words over and over again. The more I heard it repeated, the more it seemed like he was right, and I was wrong. ‘Now that it’s over, are you happy you put him through that? His death would have been fast and painless. Now if he lives it’ll be a shadow of a life. If he dies, it’ll be a long painful crippled death.
