The mask was a barrier Arthur couldn't tolerate.
He had torn it off, his face contorted with a silent scream for the air he felt he didn't deserve. Sarah was there, pressing the plastic back to his face.
"Breathe! Don’t do this!"
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.""