Nick ran for the elevator, pushed the up button frantically, but the doors wouldn’t open. Banging on the metal doors until his hands were bruised, he finally bolted for the stairs and ran up six flights. Gasping for air, he emerged into the hallway. A woman dashed from John’s apartment carrying a bloody knife, her face covered by a knitted scarf.

“John!” Nick sprinted into the apartment.

“Hey, Cappy,” John said, emerging from the bedroom, blood coursing from the open wound in his neck. “What’s up?”

“John…” Nick pressed his hands against John’s neck, trying to make it stop. How could he lose this much blood and stay conscious? “Help! Somebody help us!”

“It’s okay, Cappy.” John’s hand landed on Nick’s shoulder. “I’ll be all right.”

Nick looked up to find John’s face morphing into a smiling skeleton. He screamed.

“Nick,” Sam said. “Wake up. Babe, wake up.”

His head ached, his mouth was dry, his eyes gritty. “What?”

Sam brushed the hair off his forehead and kissed his cheek. “You were dreaming.”

Nick rested a hand over his racing heart. “John was there. He was still alive. There was so much blood. I tried to make it stop.” His throat tightening, he closed his eyes. “I couldn’t stop it.”

She held him close, running her fingers through his hair. “You couldn’t have stopped it,” she whispered.

“The stuff I’ve found out about him…since it happened… None of it matters. He was my friend.”

“Yes.” She pressed her lips to his forehead. “That’ll never change.”

“He was the closest thing to a brother I’ve ever had. We had this…language. It was all ours. The staff used to shake their heads when we’d get going. They had no idea what we were talking about. But we did. We always did.”

Sam tightened her hold on him.

“I miss him,” he whispered. “I really miss him. I just can’t believe I’m never going to see him again.”

“I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could say.”

“You’re helping.” He raised his head, met her eyes.

She leaned in to kiss him. “I want to get the person who did this for his parents and his family. But mostly I want it for you.”

“I’m apt to be a bit of a mess for a while.”

“That’s all right.”

He rested his hand over the hideous bruise on her chest. “This is a hell of a time for us to be starting something. You know that, don’t you?”

“Worst possible time.”

“So it stands to reason we’ll be able to deal with just about anything if we can get through this.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” She smiled and caressed his face. “I need to get back to work.”

“I know. Did you sleep?”

“Big time. I didn’t think I would.”