The mask was a hiss in the silence.
Arthur had pulled it off, his face pale and contorted with effort. Sarah was there, pressing the plastic back to his face.
"Breathe! Don’t leave yet!"
Arthur settled, the mask restoring the rhythm of his life. "She gasped like this," he said, his voice a whisper. "Then it stopped. The silence that followed was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve been trying to fill it ever since, but nothing fits."
"Sarah sat with him, the soft hum of the ward the only sound. "You don't have to fill it with noise, Arthur. Fill it with the peace she found at the end.""