The thing was, all mortals were going to lose the ones they loved. It was the way life worked. But for most of the time, the reality was so far off in the mind that it had no more weight than a mere hypothetical. There were reminders, however, and the almost's, the near-misses, the oh-God-please-nos, snapped your chain and got you to stop and feel what was in your heart. Like when a bad headache was just a migraine; or when a car accident totaled the station wagon, but the baby seats and the air bags saved all the lives inside; or when someone who had been taken came back to the fold . . . the aftermath shook you up and made you want to hold on to your person and steady yourself.