Mattia thought that he and Alice were like that, twin primes, alone and lost, close but not close enough to really touch each other.

She hadn't chosen him over all the others. The truth was that she hadn't even thought about anyone else.

Why did you choose to stay here?" (...) "I don't know," he said. "It's as if there's more oxygen here.

Mattia thought that he and Alice were like that, twin primes, alone and lost, close but not close enough to really touch each other.

All Mattia saw was a shadow moving toward him. He instinctively closed his eyes and then felt Alice’s hot mouth on his, her tears on his cheek, or maybe they weren’t hers, and finally her hands, so light, holding his head still and catching all his thoughts and imprisoning them there, in the space that no longer existed between them.

You can fall ill with just a memory.

In the end it happens, in some way you couldn't imagine before.