the last book I ever read (Anthony Marra's A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, excerpt sixteen)

from A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra:

“They never tell you about that part, about how long you might live with it,” Khassan continued. He held Ramzan’s limp fingers. Thirty-two and three-quarter years had passed since he had first felt those fingers and they had astonished him, delicate as sparrow feet and holding on to his thumb as if he were the sturdiest branch in the forest. “They never tell you about that part.”