VIVIAN had been on the floor for a long time before she finally moved. She didn't know exactly how long, but it was enough for her knees to ache, enough for the tears to dry from her face, leaving a hollow feeling in her heart. She pulled herself up slowly, sat on the edge of the couch, and stared at the wall with the blank, wrung-out expression of someone who had nothing left to live for.

Fiona found her like that when she came back from her evening run. She stopped in the doorway, taking in the swollen eyes, the tear-streaked face, the rumpled clothing, everything that said that Vivian...