John nods, laying his hand flat on top of the file and leaving it where it is for now. Karen may still want him to look at it as her story progresses, whatever it may be, so he wants to keep it close, but for the moment he ignores it and keeps his gaze steady on Karen instead.

She says she's done some bad things and John nods, even though he knows he never would have phrased it like that. When it comes to having done certain things, he's the last person in the world who can cast judgement on others, having done some of the worst possible things he can think of himself. John doesn't pretend he's a good person, he doesn't pretend he has some sort of higher ground. All he does is try to understand that everyone faces all kinds of things in their lives and sometimes they have to make decisions they regret later on.

"I'm here," he says. "I'm listening."