She let go first, stepping back and examining him.

He met her gaze and only then realized how tired he was.

“I...” he began, but then didn’t know what else to say. He locked his eyes on the floor and felt like it was rocking.

“Henrik?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“How are you?”

“Fine...”

“You’re lying.”

“A little.”

Emma smiled.

“Tell me,” she said.

“I’d rather not,” he said, noticing how her lower lip thrust forward.

“Come,” she said.

“Where are we going?”

“To the sofa. I thought we could sit for a while.”

Henrik smiled, put his hand in hers and let her lead him.

Chapter Twenty-Six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

IT WAS QUIET in the hallway.

The doors to the hospital ward were locked, and the number to the nurses’ station stood on white placards for those who wished to gain entry.

The scent of disinfectant wafted throughout the building and got caught in Jana Berzelius’s clothes as she walked the halls with silent steps.

She kept her eyes on the vinyl floor, following the tracks of bed wheels.

Her hat covered every strand of her hair.

When the elevator doors opened, she ducked behind a column, pretending to be waiting for someone. An orderly pushed a bed past her, an old man lying in it. Before the doors could close, she was inside the elevator, pushing the button for the Isolation Ward, standing where she would largely avoid being caught on the security camera above the monitor. When the mechanical voice welcomed her to the correct ward, she first confirmed no one was in the hallway before stepping out of the elevator.

She stood next to a locked glass door and waited. After five minutes, it opened and two nurses in white came out. The automatic door hummed loudly over her head as she slipped through. She stayed near the wall the whole time, glancing furtively around for any movements.

She heard voices and saw a light on in a room farther down the hall.

Taking a firm grip of the handle, she opened the door of the first patient room she came to and stepped in. She immediately scanned the two beds but didn’t see the person she was looking for. She slowly opened the door to the hallway and looked out. She saw another door open; a smiling nurse exited and then turned toward the room again.

“Just tell me if you need another electric blanket,” she said before disappearing down the hallway.

Jana stood still, waiting for just a moment, then moved quickly. She opened the door the nurse had just closed, went in and stood in the light shining from the hospital bed.

The young woman lay on her side, her back toward Jana.

“Hi, Pim,” she said.

* * *