“I will return home soon. And fire and blood will come to this place, because you’ve held me here. You’re a dead woman walking. Enjoy the last beats of your heart.”

Sasha didn’t know what to say. What could you say to that? So she took her samples, and left.

Dr. Brandt dropped her off outside the House of Miriam and told her he’d send a jeep out tomorrow morning to take her to the hospital. Sasha thanked him and headed inside.

The other girls were already almost finished with dinner when Sasha sat down and joined the group. She gave a quiet smile to Susannah and nodded at the other girl’s bandaged hand. When dessert (a banana this time) was over, Miss Helen took Sasha aside while the other girls broke off to read their Bibles and drink their nightly tea.

“I have some news for you.”

“Yes, ma’am?” Sasha asked.

“Alexander has been rotated back from the front. And…” that strange look of mingled frustration and anger crossed Helen’s face again, “you’ll be able to see him tomorrow. After lunch.”

Sasha’s heart pounded, an excitement that made her feel guilty and elated at the same time.

“I’m afraid it won’t be a long visit,” Helen continued. “But you’ll have a bit of time with him.”

And then Helen sighed again, just a little. Sasha was sure she wasn’t supposed to have noticed it. Miss Helen’s eyes looked a bit watery. Sasha was so happy, so excited, that her brain glossed over this fact. Instead she gave Miss Helen a hug. It wasn’t nearly the first one they’d shared, but this was the first time the older woman had seemed hesitant in returning it. But she did, after a moment, and Sasha’s joy-drunk brain wrote over any sense of doubt she ought to have felt.

Sasha buzzed with uncontained energy the rest of the night. Sleep was near impossible. She tossed until the small hours of the morning, turning over her memories of chat conversations she’d had with Alexander. His face felt so clear and real in her memory that she could almost touch it. And tomorrow she’d be able to do just that.

Sasha finally passed out about two hours before Helen came around to wake them up. She should have been exhausted. Instead, she found herself out of bed, feet planted firmly on the ground, before her mind was even fully awake. Her subconscious was that eager to start the day.

She rinsed herself with extra care that morning. Mae seemed to notice the added effort she put into primping and called her out for it.

“You’re not working at the hospital to snag a doctor,” she sneered. “You know that, right?”

Sasha tried to ignore the comment. Susannah, whose hand was still bandaged from her injury the other day, spoke up in her defense.