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Before Captain Strand, it had been a long time since anyone had told him he would amount to something.
While the others argued about whether Cap should have said something about his cancer sooner, all Mateo could think about was his heart pounding so hard against his chest that he was sure he was having a heart-attack. So hard that he felt physically sick.
Cap couldn’t be…
Except he could, because tragedy came quickly and took people fast. Even the people who had taken a chance on you when no-one else would. Tragedy didn’t stop to weigh up if you had been a good person or if there were people on Earth that still needed you.
It just took you when it felt like.
It wasn’t fair.
The pounding in his chest got faster and his throat felt as though it was closing. If he didn’t get out of here, he was sure he was going to explode.
Why were they arguing about whether he should have told them, about who would take over, about any of that? Why weren’t they stuck, like him, with the worst thoughts whirring through their heads.
Why now, when all he needed was silence?