Healing a wound

The external symptoms pointed to collapse, although the collapse directed itself inward, and thankfully space and time allowed for the containment of the festering. For it did fester, indeed, for some time, who could expect otherwise? The surprise came not from the pain, welling up repeatedly and in the most inconvenient circumstances, but rather from the moment of relief, the day when, peering into the crux of the matter, they found forgiveness.