Tourniquet

"My heart is troubled, and I am losing my emotional and spiritual balance simultaneously," Oliver prayed. "I am getting more troubled every day from my perplexities, and I have nowhere to turn to but you. You have been the greatest strength of my life, my elixir, and the force behind my wits. Please deliver me from this miry clay, lift my head up that I may not slide into defeat and despair." Oliver screamed, placing his hands on his head. "Oh my god, this is not happening," he said as he advanced towards Francis. He was so inflamed and exasperated that he grabbed Francis by his neck with both hands to strangle him, shouting, "Why didn't you tell me? You could have just told me, Francis, you could have just told me!" Francis was visibly choking, but Oliver didn't make any attempt to release his hold. He was visibly very broken, and Francis knew his boss would never mean to strangle him. As Oliver held on to his neck, screaming, his grip on Francis's neck started to loosen, and his voice, sounding at crescendo, started fading gradually into ventriloqy. Francis, realizing it, looked up into Oliver's face and saw what broke him for the next two days, Sarah for the next one week, and Tommy the whole day, which is how long they were all sick. It was tears in Oliver's eyes.