“Under the damage, he could still see Kitten, surviving despite it all.”
“And always, I could see that, despite his weakness for her or because of it, he seemed uncatchable, as if he might slip away at any moment.”
“Violent death is like a monster. The closer you get to it, the more damage you sustain if you survive at all.”
“Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.”
“Despite our tiffs, despite her nastiness, despite all the fuss and faces she made, and the vulgarity, and the danger, and the horrible hopelessness of it all, I still dwelled deep in my elected paradise - a paradise whose skies were the color of hell-flames - but still a paradise.”
“He could do this. He'd survived boot camp. He'd survived combat and the harsh weather of Afghanistan. He could survive broccoli. Probably.”