Elim slowed as they approached the hospital room where Hannah lay. Her strawberry-blond hair spilled over the pillow. The machines by her bedside had been turned off.

Millen stepped into the room. Behind him, he heard Elim pace away, already giving more orders.

He reached out, took the white sheet, and pulled it up, covering more of Hannah’s body, then sat in the chair by the window. He was asleep within minutes.

Millen awoke to the sound of sheets rustling. He looked toward the bed with bloodshot eyes.

“Millen.” Hannah was sitting up, gazing in amazement at him.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself. How did you get here?”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

“Seriously.”

“I told the CDC we had left somebody behind—close to where it all started.”

His response drained some of the excitement from her. “Oh.”

“And, we never finished our book.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“You know how I am about my TBR list.”

She laughed. “You don’t have a TBR list.”

“True. I have a To-Be-Listened-To list. So, I guess a TBLT list.” He feigned being deep in thought. “Just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“No. No, it doesn’t.”

“Anyway.” He held up the cell phone with the Audible app. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” She scooted over in the bed, making room for him. “I believe you know the drill.”

As he had done before, he lay beside Hannah, plugged one earbud in one of his ears and the other in one of hers, and wrapped an arm around her. The last time he had clicked play, the pandemic was still a brush fire in a remote corner of the world. The two of them had been only a couple of weeks younger, but it felt almost like a lifetime ago. Millen had grown up a lot in that short amount of time. He taken risks, handled new responsibilities, and learned what was really important. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. Not for a while.

“You know,” he said in a mock boastful tone. “I actually oversaw the first-ever patient recovery from X1-Mandera.”

Hannah turned to him. “Oh really?”

“Really. That patient turned out quite well. He saved you, after all.”

“Uh-huh,” Hannah said. She could obviously tell he was working up to something.

“I could extend those same services to you.”

“Oh, you could?”

“I could.” In a serious tone, he added, “Would you like that? Do you want me to stay?”

“More than anything.”

Chapter 134

Chapter 134

The sun was rising over the island by the time Lin and Peyton reached the burned remains of the administrative building. The Citium search teams had brought out their fallen comrades and laid them out in a row, in body bags with clear openings at the face.