( You're one of my future students, then? — she says nothing; she doesn't correct him. While it's accurate to say she learned a lot from him, more than she can even put into words in only a matter of days, she certainly wasn't one of his students... but she isn't sure whether or not she ought to tell him otherwise. She isn't sure if he should know the truth.
She isn't sure he'll want her around if he learns she's the reason he eventually dies. Is it selfish to hold that back, just for the chance that maybe he will let her stick around him? She can lie to herself and say that it's about the timelines, or that she's protecting him from the knowledge, it's easy to justify being withholding that way.
So instead, she just circles around to answering his first question, the one she was too startled to respond to: )
Laura. My name, it's Laura. ( She remembers threading her fingers through his after his seizure. She remembers sitting in his chair as the two of them watched Westerns on a hotel television, as he softly explained to her the significance of the movie. Her throat feels thick. ) It's.... really good to see you again.
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She isn't sure he'll want her around if he learns she's the reason he eventually dies. Is it selfish to hold that back, just for the chance that maybe he will let her stick around him? She can lie to herself and say that it's about the timelines, or that she's protecting him from the knowledge, it's easy to justify being withholding that way.
So instead, she just circles around to answering his first question, the one she was too startled to respond to: )
Laura. My name, it's Laura. ( She remembers threading her fingers through his after his seizure. She remembers sitting in his chair as the two of them watched Westerns on a hotel television, as he softly explained to her the significance of the movie. Her throat feels thick. ) It's.... really good to see you again.