It felt like relief.

It explained the drive.

It explained the mall.

It explained the eleven words.

It explained why nobody had called a doctor for eight hours.

It explained the whisper.

And — this is the part I could not see at the time and can see now — it explained me.

It took a woman who had spent three days going through an hour and sixteen minutes in her own head, minute by minute, checking her own hands, and it gave her a role.