Henry put his arm around Claire, who Archie could tell was pretending not to understand their conversation. “Good thing, I guess,” Henry said.

“Oh,” Claire said to Archie, as if she’d just remembered something. “Star says you two are even, by the way.”

“Star?” Archie said.

“Your stripper friend?” Claire said brightly. “She says hi, and that you’re even.”

Archie tried to think what that could mean and how it had come to pass that he even had a stripper friend. “Okay?” he said.

“I’ll explain later,” Henry told him.

Archie watched as they left the room, arm in arm. Archie was pretty sure he saw Claire give Henry’s ass a squeeze as they went out.

*   *   *

A nurse in pink scrubs and a pair of white fuzzy rabbit ears on her head was checking Archie’s vitals.

“Sorry I woke you,” she whispered apologetically, her rabbit ears bobbing.

Archie blinked blearily. It was dark outside and the lights in his room had been adjusted to their dimmest setting, giving the space a faint golden glow, just enough light to find the bathroom, and not enough to read by. “What time is it?” he muttered.

“Eleven-thirty,” she said. “Halloween’s almost over.”

She returned her gaze to the blood pressure cuff on his arm and Archie saw a figure curled on the love seat under the window over her shoulder. He thought it was Henry until he saw the black and white hair.

“She’s been here for hours,” the nurse whispered.

She removed the cuff, jotted down the blood pressure reading in his chart, and then stood. “I’ll let you get back to sleep,” she said with a mild smile. She walked to the door and paused. Her long ears threw a shadow on the blue wall. “Want the lights off?” she called softly.

“No,” Archie said, his eyes still on Susan. “You can leave them how they are.”