"It itches. I want to claw at it." But he was scared to scratch it for fear of making the skin break and bleed, what little bit there was. It did hurt just a little, but he didn't want to tell her. He crept closer to her, then dipped his head and buried his face in her shirt, trying to hide himself, ashamed at what he'd become. He'd swore not to be this again, to be a better man than this, but here he was reduced to a sniveling baby and his face was dashed to smithereens. "What am I going to do?" he said plaintively.