Abigail lifted her gaze to Rafe, who sat on the other side of the bed, studiously avoiding Amos’s face, half-covered with the ventilator mask. “What did she say?”

“She mostly read to me, I think.”

Mercy was surprised. “You heard that?”

“I did. I don’t remember exactly what you read, but I’d hear your voice and it gave me something to hold on to.”

“It was an astronomy book.” Mercy sat in the chair next to Amos’s bed, biting back a sigh of exhaustion. “Come, Abigail.” She patted her knee, relieved when the girl sat in her lap easily, resting her head on Mercy’s shoulder. “It was the only book that I had in my purse at the time. I’d bought it for my brother John’s daughter. She wants to be an astronaut.”

Abigail looked up at her. “What’s that?”

Ignoring Rafe’s stunned expression, Mercy answered levelly, because she knew exactly what Abigail hadn’t been taught—and what lies she’d been fed. “It’s a person who goes into space. A few men went to the moon, but that was long before I was born. I think even before your papa was born.”

Abigail’s lips pursed. “That’s not true. My teacher said it wasn’t true, that it was a movie, made in Hollywood. That the government lied.”

“What else did she say was a lie?” Mercy asked patiently as Rafe gaped in astonishment.

“Phones. Oh right. They’re true.” Abigail’s brow scrunched, the little girl in deep thought. “Bigfoot? One of the boys in school said Bigfoot hides in the forest.”

Mercy couldn’t contain her laugh. Across the bed, Rafe was biting back a grin. “Well,” Mercy said, brushing Abigail’s hair from her face, “I’m not so sure about Bigfoot. He’s probably not true. But astronauts are totally true. I’ll get you some books so you can read about it for yourself.”

Abigail resettled against her shoulder. “Can you read to Papa now?”

Mercy toyed with the bands holding the girl’s braids in place, tugging them off. She ran her fingers through the plaits, stroking the hair she’d freed. Like Mama used to do for me. “How about I read to both of you?”

Abigail yawned. “What book do you have? I read Ramona the Pest at the library. I started to read the next book, but then Irina came. And then the FBI.”

“Let me check.” One-handed, Mercy opened a browser window on her phone and searched for the next ebook in the series, finding it easily. “You started this one?”

Abigail sucked in a breath, her finger hovering over Mercy’s screen, afraid to touch. “Yes. It’s in your phone?”

“It will be in a few seconds.”

Abigail was staring at the phone. “How does it fit?”

Mercy tried to think about how to explain data to a child, but she was way too tired for that. “Can I explain it later? For now, all you need to know is that you can fit a lot of books on a phone.”

“How many?”