The ones I’m afraid to look at closer, and find answers to.

I stumble out of the shower after some time. I go through the haphazard mechanics of sliding on the hotel-provided robe and pull it as tight as I can around me. I’m freezing. The muggy Italian weather permeates the room, but I’m so very cold. I walk the short distance to the bed and crawl back into it, teeth chattering and body exhausted.

But it’s now that I’m physically cleansed—that my eyes are closed and my body is sinking into the mattress—that I can hear the cars on the street below and the sound of the vacuum in...