"she gripped the edge of the sink , staring at her face paler than the white porcelain in her grip . carson sounded like the child of an alcoholic , who 'd numbed himself to expecting good things because then nobody could let him down . ohmigod . why had n't she seen the pattern before ? because she had n't been objective-like a teacher-when it came to _ ..." What is the word in the blank space (_)? The answer is
carson