Her hand froze and the little device stood tilted towards her temple. Shit. How raw of a deal was that? A flood of empathy hit her expression, but Claire tried to rein it back under control. No one, she decided, wanted to be looked on with pity. But it didn't matter how good or terrible this guy was, she knew the statistics. The survival rates. The numbers were never good enough.

"I can't imagine what that must be like, Nathan." A pause. "I mean -- Nate."