"Didn't know we was counting." She plugs in a different set of lights and a strange, unpleasantly syrupy sensation slides over her. "Anyway, a good person wouldn't get her best friend's legs broke bad enough he couldn't walk never again."

Mercy freezes because what... just came out of her mouth? "I didn't- I didn't think to warn him about that weak branch when we was climbing." What are the words still coming? "And then he grabbed me, and I... I thought he was playing, and I kicked at him, and he just..."