DocMechanic (again, oooops)
You can’t press the button. You can’t do it. You let it fall, and your knees hit the floor a moment later. Raven stops, turns back to you, and is by your side in an instant.
“It’s okay,” she whispers. “It’s okay.”
“I can’t fix this,” you sob. “I can’t pretend to be strong enough.”
“You are strong enough,” she whispers. “You could have pressed that button, and this collar would have shocked me. You could have, and you didn’t.”
“If it had been anyone else,” you say. “Anyone else.”
“I guess that’s love,” Raven tells you, running her thumbs under your eyes. The pills are nowhere to be seen, and you don’t ask where she has put them. “I couldn’t help my mother, because she didn’t love me. But I can help you, Abby. We can do this together.”
“I can’t fix these wounds. They’re not visible, they’re not - I -” your breath is coming too fast, too shallow.
“I can mend them. They don’t need a doctor, Abby. I know. I’m here.”