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“Want some cookie dough?” I asked.
He put the empty bowl down and covered his belly with his hand. “I’m full. Couldn’t possibly stomach another bite.”
Donovan kissed his hand, then touched the glass. I copied the motion and pressed my fingers against his. My food was getting cold on the other balcony, but I didn’t want the moment to end so I rested my back against the glass door. A moment later I felt him do the same thing. It was probably just my imagination, but I thought I could feel his warmth.
“Do you think we’ll ever go home?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Molly.” There was a pause, and he said, “I have a confession to make.”
I tensed. “Okay.”
“I cheated at hide and seek.”
I snorted. “Iknowyou cheated. I saw the footage!”
“Yeah, but, like, I still get points for admitting it. Right?”
“We may only be a stone’s throw from the Pope,” I said, “but this isn’t a Catholic confessional. You don’t get points for admitting your hide-and-seek sinsafteryou got caught.”
“Aww.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Maybe that’s my flight standby status. Fingers crossed…”
He turned around to look at me. “Yeah? What’s it say?”
But it wasn’t an email about a flight home. It was from an Italian address I didn’t recognize. I opened it and scanned the body of the email. It was written in Italian, with an English translation below.
I gasped when I came across the important line:
TEST RESULT: POSITIVE
46
Molly
The Day I Got It, Too
“Molly?” Donovan asked. He stood up and pressed his hands against the glass door. “What is it? Molly? Talk to me.”
“No, no, no,” I moaned, shaking my head like I could dispel the news with sheer will alone. “I knew I couldn’t taste the salt in the pasta, but I thought it was nothing. I didn’t think it was because ofthis…”
“Molly,” Donovan said forcefully. “Talk.”
I held up my phone with quivering fingers. “My test came back. I’m positive.”
His mouth hung open. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not translating it wrong or anything?”
“It’s in Italian and English. There’s a list of precautions for me to take, just like in the email you got. I have it, Donovan. I have the virus.”
Saying it out loud made it more real. My bowels turned to liquid and my knees trembled. I felt lightheaded.
Suddenly the balcony door slid open, and Donovan’s strong arms were surrounding me and holding me close. I exhaled into his broad chest as he hugged me fiercely.
“We can be together now,” he whispered. “That’s one silver lining.”
