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She takes Zuzu by the hand after I’ve kissed her three times. Gabe pauses next to me.
“I’ve seen this plenty of times,” he tells me quietly. “In combat. He’ll come around, Mila. He’s in shock. He’s been through a lot.”
I nod. “I know.”
“And so have you. Be easy on yourself. I need for you to get some sleep. Come to the hotel tonight. Rest.”
I nod again. “Ok.”
He’s satisfied with that.
“Gabe?”
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“Thank y
ou. For everything.”
For saving my life. And Pax’s. And Zuzu’s.
He nods. “Always.”
They leave, and I’m alone again.
I wait for awhile longer, but the longer I stare at Zuzu’s picture, the more my frustration grows. Our family consists of three people, soon to be four. Pax can’t keep us away from him.
He can’t.
I take the picture, and I slip down the hall. I wait until the nurses at the station are distracted, and then I slip through the double-doors. He’s in room three-fifteen, so I count the rooms down as I pass, and before I know it, I’m in front of his.
I lift the latch.
I push the door open.
Pax is in the bed, his eyes closed.
My breath leaves my body in a whoosh.
Déjà vu floods through me.
Once upon a time, I’d walked into a hospital room and found Pax like this, hooked up to IVs and in a hospital bed.
Today, though, my beautiful husband’s face is battered and bruised. There is a bandage across his nose and I assume it’s broken. I watched the beating they gave him. I knew it had to leave a mark.
But until this moment, I had no idea how much so.
His face is blue and purple, his cheek swollen.
His eyes are closed… until… they aren’t.
He looks at me, quiet and still, his gaze golden.
“Red,” he murmurs, and for a moment, just a moment, he is happy to see me. His eyes light up, and he reaches for me. But then, just as quickly, he masks it.
He drops his hand, and the light in his eyes fades.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
