The noise around them did not disappear, the screams, the crashing bodies, the guards being overwhelmed by the flood of prisoners still echoed violently through the corridor, but for him it all seemed to dull into something distant the moment Patricia spoke.
"She's gone…"
Her voice was weak and trembling, barely holding together as tears streamed down her face, and she shook her head slowly, as though saying the words alone hurt more than everything they had endured before this moment.
"Mother is dead…"
Patrick stared at her, not understanding at first, or perhaps refusing to understand, his expression tightening as if his mind was trying to reject the meaning before it could settle fully.
"No," he said immediately, almost instinctively. "No, where is she?"
Patricia broke into sobs, clutching weakly at his arm as though afraid he would disappear again if she let go.
"She died…" she whispered painfully. "Not long after they brought us here…"
Patrick's breathing grew uneven.
