Page 87 of Falcon’s Forever

“He came back, though,” she murmurs.

“Yes.”

Emily searches my face. “Are you mad at him?”

“Yes,” I answer, because she’s earned my honesty.

Her mouth twists. “He looked sad.”

“I know.”

“Do you still love him?” she asks.

I stare at her. Apparently, almost dying doesn’t make anyone less nosy.

“Yes,” I admit.

The answer comes without any effort at all.

Emily smiles faintly. “Good.”

“That doesn’t mean anything’s changing,” I warn her.

“I know,” she says.

I narrow my eyes at her. She laughs, then immediately winces.

“Don’t make me laugh,” she complains.

“Then stop interrogating me.”

Her eyes begin to drift closed. “I’m tired.”

“Sleep,” I tell her.

“Will you be here?” she asks softly.

I tighten my hand around hers. “Yes.”

That promise I can make. I settle back into the chair beside her bed.

“I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Her hand relaxes around mine, and within minutes she's asleep. I stay a little longer, not because she needs me to keep her alive, the machines and the doctors are handling that, but because she asked me to be here, and they are two very different things, and I'm starting to understand it better every day.

When I go back out, Frankie takes one look at my face and moves her bag off the chair beside her. I sit.

"How is she?" Sarah asks.

"Bossy."

"So, back to normal."

"Pretty much."

My phone buzzes. A security update.

Security Phone: