“I'm hideous""You could never be hideous""Forget it" I wanted this conversation over."I can't forget it," Gran said, not giving up so easily. "I don't like to hear you talk about yourself that way. Your scars do not define you, young lady. Your action do.”

“If you cannot breathe, I will breathe for you. If your heart will not beat, mine will beat harder. If you do not live, neither will I.”

“I don't want to hurt you. I would die to protect you from pain.”

“I shut the door and waited to see what she would do. To my surprise she lowered the gun but kept it in her hands. “I’ll give you five minutes to explain.”I opened my mouth to begin but she held up a hand. “First let me get you some pants.”

“The snow was endless, a heavy blanket on the outdoors; it had a way about it. A beauty. But I knew that, like many things, beauty could be deceiving.”

“She put a hand up to her scars, whispering, "Your love comes with a heavy price tag.”

“They tried not to stare, but they couldn't keep their eyes away. I was a freak now. I made people uncomfortable and not necessarily because of my scars-but because what my scars represented. Danger, fear, and the unknown. Something had had happened to me, something not even I could remember. They all probably thought that I was crazy, that I somehow did this to myself. I couldn't blame them. ow could I? They might be right.”