She scooted over and gave him a very gentle hug.

"I'm sorry," she said. "For everything you lost."

It was a lot to lose.

"But it's okay if you laugh, you know. I know I don't really know what it's like." She pulled away and pursed her lips together. "But I know that if the same happened to me and I lost my partn--my friend. One of my closest friends. If it was partly because of something I did, that he'd...I think he'd forgive me. And he'd want me to laugh. I bet your friends would've wanted that, too."