She was putting her foot down, but he wasn't finished yet. Reaching for her shoulders, he attempted to make her listen, to take in what he was trying to say.

"You are the only one who still has any family to speak of, Fred. One that still cares deeply for you. Worries about you. None of the others do. My parents might be alive but we're not close. Not like yours are to you. I know you made your choice, but you can unmake it. You can."

It wasn't that his own life didn't matter to him, of course it did. As did everyone else's. But Fred's life was the most precious to him. He couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her, he just couldn't. He could see Fred's stricken face again in his mind's eye, with her perched so precariously upon that chair, trying not to falter, worried for all of them. It made his throat constrict painfully, and it felt as if the breath was being robbed from his body as he struggled to continue speaking.

"You nearly died today, and I couldn't do anything about it."