[ Gilbert starts to follow, then freezes in place. He shakes his head, flinching back as though to step in that direction is physically too much to bear. ]
No, I can'tâ
[ The sounds coming from that direction distort; they're not recorded in Gilbert's memory. Here is when he lost himself to tears. He'd thrown himself to the ground here, pounded the earth with his fists until his knuckles were bloody and bruised, cried himself sick and then laid there among the gnarled tree roots and underbrush until someone came to collect him. Break, he thinks. Or maybe it was Vincent. Usually it's impossible to mix those two up, but here, in this memory, Gilbert has no idea who came to retrieve him. ]
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No, I can'tâ
[ The sounds coming from that direction distort; they're not recorded in Gilbert's memory. Here is when he lost himself to tears. He'd thrown himself to the ground here, pounded the earth with his fists until his knuckles were bloody and bruised, cried himself sick and then laid there among the gnarled tree roots and underbrush until someone came to collect him. Break, he thinks. Or maybe it was Vincent. Usually it's impossible to mix those two up, but here, in this memory, Gilbert has no idea who came to retrieve him. ]
I can'tâ