Liam wasn't listening, and he was too frightened to open his eyes. If he opened them, then he'd cry, and that would mean that she was truly gone.
He sniffled against 'Cent's shoulder, and heard his Daddy saying something soothing, but he wasn't listening. He wanted his Mertha back now.
He clung just a little tighter to 'Cent, thinking that perhaps if the angels had taken mummy, and now his Mertha, he might just lose her too.
But then he heard Ella sobbing in her daddy's arms, and he let a sob of his own escape and then he felt the hot tears on his cheek. "I don't want her gone," he said, but more feebly than before.