Peter didn't know her. That meant it wasn't Mae. Thank God. There was still hope, as fragile as it was. People who disappeared on this ship had never turned up alive. But he had to try, if just to make himself hold on a bit longer to do what he could for these people before he went mad from grief.
Cath shook his head, laughing bitterly. "If I take a moment to think, Father, it'll just make it worse," he told him. "Thinking about it will make it real. I can't deal with the reality right now. There's too much that needs doing."
If he took a minute for himself, it'd be his last. And it wasn't time for that yet.