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*Owen's P.O.V*
The entire car ride over to this new dinosaur's paddock was awkward and quiet. Awkward, for the obvious reasons that our failed first date six months ago left behind. Quiet...because well, I suppose both of us had our minds on other things that weren't this dinosaur or each other. Mine? The death of my older sister and Hailey. Part of me was glad that Claire arrived when she did because I honestly don't know how I would have answered Hailey's question. How have I been since the funeral? I couldn't tell you. The last four weeks of my life have been a blur, and if we're counting since the day that Elizabeth passed away...then that'd be five weeks. It all happened so fast, I couldn't have time to process her diagnosis before she succumbed to it. They say that pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, affecting at least 45,000 people a year and killing 30,000. The doctors said that the tumors hid along her pancreas for a long time, and by the time that she had started to experience any symptoms...it was too late to treat her. She died two weeks after her stage III diagnosis, and I could only be there for her those last four days. But Hailey, God poor Hailey- she was there every agonizing second. I was only there with Elizabeth for four days before she passed and then I left, just to come back for her funeral- yet I was still a mess. Hailey though, she never faltered. She reminds me so much of her mother- her braveness, her spirit, her wittiness, that drawing talent of hers- hell, she even looks a little like Elizabeth did when she was her age.
So when she asked me that question, I couldn't help but just freeze in my shoes. I know I've been a bad Uncle, a brother-in-law, and a son- I wasn't there for any of them to support. I just kind of went to the funeral, stayed an extra two days and then flew back here to get back to work. I put on a front for the world, that I don't think I've been able to put down since Elizabeth died. I mean, how could I? She was my best friend, my number one supporter, my older sister. One day I'm talking to her on the phone about potential gifts for Hailey's 17th birthday, and the next I'm at her funeral. I couldn't afford to let myself grieve because it would just hurt too much. So I buried myself in my work with the Raptors the moment I got back to the island. Barry knew what I was doing, but I could tell that he didn't want to bring it up. It may look like I'm overworking myself, but to me...this is my grieving. Putting my every ounce of will into working with these animals, is my way of getting out my frustrations. But no matter how hard or how long I work...the thoughts, the grief, the memories and the tears...they still come at night. And I don't think they'll ever stop. "Mr- I mean, Owen..." Claire said, looking at me.
I shook the thoughts out of my head and looked at her. "Yes?"
"Are you okay?" She asked, knitting her eyebrows together.
I looked around us to see that we were at the new paddock she wanted me to inspect. How long have we been here? And how long had she been talking for? I cleared my throat and nodded. "Yeah, sorry I was just...thinking."
"Well, as I was saying," she said, getting out of the car. I followed suit, closing the door behind me and looking up at the walls. "We've been pre-booking tickets for months. The park needs a new attraction every few years in order to reinvigorate the public's interest," we started to walk up the side steps, the ones that would probably lead us into the viewing hall into the paddock. "kind of like the space program. Corporate felt genetic modification would up the wow factor."
