Once they're home, once he's medicated, and he's put on comfortable, soft clothes, layers that pull down over his hands, once he's poured himself a large drink, he settles on the sofa, and he waits for her to join him. He doesn't know how much she'll tell him, how much she'll want him to know, but he does know that he's willing to listen to whatever she wants to get out of her, and he does know that he told Heleen the truth.

That none of this matters to him. That nothing will change.