Chapter 30 Day Off

• Simon was uncomfortable, balanced on the edge of the bed, and feared falling at any moment. To make matters worse, his back hurt, and his right arm, where Paulina had rested her head while lying down, was numb. He didn't move a muscle, afraid of a new wave swallowing him up to his ears.
• He observed her sleeping face. Paulina looked terrible. Her skin was pale, her face was swollen, there were crystallized tear marks on her lashes and cheeks, her hair was disheveled, and her nose was red. Even so, for the first time, Simon found sense in the nickname she had received from Nathaniel.
• He remembered comparing her to the porcelain dolls his mother collected. At first, it was positive because when she was a child, Paulina always had rosy cheeks in contrast to her fair skin and naturally pink lips. The clothes were also similar, immaculately clean and full of ruffles that her mother sewed. Over time, the comparison became negative. When Simon got irritated, he would say that she was cold, and it gave him agony because, as with the dolls, he couldn't get close to her. In the case of the dolls, it was because of his mother's prohibition and the discomfort of touching them; in Paulina's case, she moved away as if she were afraid of him, avoiding his gaze as if his image would break her into a thousand pieces. And that was long before he said anything negative about anything.