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Buzzing his way through his shift, he almost froze again when his phone vibrated with a text. He checked the screen and saw that it was from his brother.

We’ve got something you should see.

At the hospital?

Yeah.

How long will you be there?

Late, like always.

I’ll be over after my shift.

The anticipation did not make the day go faster.

Adam texted Vic to tell him he was going by the hospital. The response came pretty quickly.

Mind if I tag along?

Something softened inside Adam to read it. Mercy was not his favorite place.

You’re never tagging along. You’re always welcome.

Text me when you’re close and I’ll meet you there.

It was too bad it sounded urgent, making it another missed opportunity for them to walk together.

Some of Adam’s best moments with Vic since they’d taken the apartment had been walking from their place to City Park or the nearby bookstore, usually with a cup of coffee in hand. Winter in Denver was fickle, but there were plenty of days when they didn’t need more than a light coat.

On the colder days they’d spring for tickets to the Museum of Nature and Science.

Now spring broke over the city in waves of blooming tulips and budding trees. Adam took the number ten bus once he was downtown. The fifteen would carry him down Colfax and require less walking, but the ten would be more peaceful. It went through Cheesman Park. He could see the trees, pink crab apples and white dogwoods, from the window. The walk north from the bus stop let him settle his thoughts and prepare himself for Mercy.

The hospital where Adam’s brother worked was owned by the elves, which was only one reason why he had mixed feelings about the place.

Being on probation had one major perk: it meant he didn’t see much of the immortals, which made it easier to keep secrets from them.

Mercy was where he’d first met Vic, but the memory wasn’t a good one. Terrible things had happened that day.

Vic waited out front, having had the chance to shower and change from his own work clothes.

Today was better, and Adam hugged him. Some of the tension between them melted at the contact.

Getting into the hospital wasn’t as easy as it once had been. They had to put on masks and check in at the front desk, but the receptionist sent them up to Bobby’s floor.

He met them as soon as the elevator doors opened.

“You need to see this,” he said.

Adam’s older brother usually acted like whatever he was doing was the only thing that mattered, and that got worse when he was at work, but his expression held a look of genuine worry that quickly had Adam and Vic following in his wake.

Bobby was taller than Adam by a few inches, and brown-haired rather than dirty blond. He’d recently had good cause to shed the air of despair that had surrounded him in the years since his wife had died, with Annie returning to life and a baby—their biggest hope—on the way, but a good amount of gray remained on his temples.

He led Adam and Vic to a room divided by a sliding glass door.

Adam blinked. It took a moment to process what he was seeing. A young man sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes open. A nurse was talking to him, but getting no response. He looked awake, conscious, but blank.

Adam recognized him as the man Jodi had tried to help at the concert.