Page 63 of So Bleak

“You have done nothing wrong,” Faith said. “And you shouldn’t apologize for anything. Tyler Grant is insane, and nothing he does is a reflection on you.”

“Yeah.” Gina took another sip of coffee. “I feel bad for him, though. Is it weird that I feel bad?”

“No,” Faith assured her. “Actually, it’s very common. It’s hard for people to understand why anyone would act the way Tyler did. So most people assume that they act that way because they’re acting out due to their own suffering.”

“That’s the truth, though isn’t it?”

“Sometimes. In Tyler’s case, yes, probably.”

“Don’t you feel bad for him? I mean, not a lot, obviously. But a little bit?”

Faith considered her answer a moment. “Not always. Sometimes, yes, but not always. I just feel like there are so many better ways to handle pain than to lash out against other people, and I can’t condone any excuse for hurting people the way Tyler did. It’s not right, and there’s nothing anyone can say or do to make it right.”

“Yeah. I know. I know it’s not right, I just. I guess I don’t know what I’d do if my father died.”

“Would you poison a bunch of innocent people?”

“No. No, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Then you’re better than he is.”

Gina shrugged. “I don’t believe in better or worse. At least, I don’t believe in people being better or worse than other people. We’re all just people. Some of us just take a wrong turn at some point.”

Faith didn’t answer for a while. Finally, she just squeezed Gina’s shoulder and said, “I’m going to have EMS look at you. Once they say it’s okay, you’ll be transported home. You might spend the night in the hospital, but as long as they don’t see anything wrong, you’ll be able to start putting this nightmare behind you. You’ll have to make a statement, but that should be all you have to do.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Faith smiled at the young woman. “Good luck to you, Gina.”

Gina gave Turk a quick hug. Then Turk followed Faith away. Faith motioned to the waiting paramedics, and they made their way over to their near-victim.

Michael waited for the two of them at the car. “How’d it go?”

Faith sighed. “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. She’s trying to empathize with him right now. I don’t know if it’s because she’s traumatized or because she really feels bad for him.”

“Maybe both. People are complicated.”

Faith looked back at Gina. “Are we? I wonder sometimes.”

Michael laid a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get some doughnuts. You’ll feel better after you get some processed sugar into your body.”

Faith laughed. “Doctor’s orders?”

“Fuck doctors.”

She chuckled again and walked around to the passenger seat. “Come on, Turk. You want a doughnut?”

Turk’s eyes popped open. He barked exuberantly and leapt into the vehicle, tail wagging.

“Can he have a doughnut?” Michael asked her.

She shrugged. “Fuck vets.”

He grinned mischievously. “Well, just the one, right?”

She looked sideways at him. “I thought we agreed no sex jokes.”

“The case is over. All bets are off now.”

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