The problem was not the selection of a gift, but the need for one. Doris has several suitable sweaters that would have sufficed. This new sweater had not spawned from a need for warmth. It spawned from a much darker place.

Silently, Alex stared at the sweaters and thought of what he had done these past days. How could he have been so callus while his lover was in the hospital? Why did he think that a simple sweater could make up for all of the damage that he had caused?

His stomach hurt. His body felt stiff and sick. His hands shook, but not enough that a passerby would notice. To the other customers Alex was just another clueless man looking for a sweater. But inside, he was being wrenched apart.