Josh was always by her side. Always. Jen and Sarah were there often, and her mom, who cried a lot. When she was a little more alert, Darius brought Sebastian in, who was fascinated that her bed could go up and down with the push of a button.

Her voice was raspy, and she was given milkshakes that tasted grainy, nothing nearly as good as an Awful Awful from Newport Creamery, she said, so Josh went out and got her one. She’d lost weight, apparently. She’d always been curvy with a little tummy Josh said was the sexiest thing on earth . . . that tummy was flat now. Weird.

She’d had pneumonia, the resident told her. Nonobstructive atelectasis, bilateral . . . in other words, two collapsed lungs thanks to pneumonia combined with IPF. Her O2 sat was so low they intubated her and fought the pneumonia with IV antibiotics.

Dr. Bennett came. She’d been in daily, apparently, but Lauren didn’t remember. Her presence was reassuring; she projected an air of calm, like . . . like Florence Nightingale, or a homesteading wife from long ago who’d put a poultice on Lauren’s chest and a cool cloth on her head.

“I’m so glad you’re better, Lauren,” she said, pulling up a chair next to Josh. He needed a haircut and a shave, but damn, he was so handsome. Lauren smiled at him, reassured when he smiled back. “We almost lost you,” Dr. Bennett said.

“Yeah,” said Lauren, her smile dropping. “It felt that way.”

Josh gave her a sharp look.

“This kind of episode is going to happen from time to time,” the doctor continued. “The absolute best thing to do is get in to see me the second you feel any additional difficulty breathing. Even if you’re imagining it, or it’s caused by a weather change, I want to see you. No toughing it out, because every time you get sick, you lose a little lung capacity, and it’s gone forever.”

“Gotcha,” Lauren said.

“And, Josh, you have a background in medicine to some degree, right?”

“Sort of.” His voice was flat.

“I’d like to teach you to listen for changes in her breath sounds with a stethoscope.”

“Yep. Fine.”

“We can play doctor,” Lauren said to him.

He didn’t smile back. Not even a flicker.

“I’ll be in tomorrow,” Dr. Bennett said. “Keep up the good work, and I’ll see if I can discharge you.”

“Thank you,” Lauren said. Then she fell asleep.

SHE SENT JOSH home later that evening so he could shower, take a walk with Ben Kim (Yoda to his Luke Skywalker, Lauren always said), see his mom and bring Lauren the dinner Mrs. Kim had made for them.

She also needed some time alone. Once the sweet nurse left after taking her vitals, Lauren closed the door, got back in bed, and took a few slow breaths.