“Okay, all done,” I say, rejoining everyone at the table.

“He’s going to love it,” Dalma says.

“I hope so.” I rap my knuckles against the table. “Seriously, thanks for everything.”

A thousand and one.

“It’s our pleasure,” Dayana says. She checks her watch. “What timeline are we looking at here?”

“I don’t know. I’m not going to force him out.”

Floyd sits up. “Absolutely. No one is asking you to march Valentino to his death.”

“Please don’t start doing it now. We haven’t even heard back from Dr. Emeterio—”

“Orion, hear us out,” Dayana says. “We love you and want the best for you.”

“Then don’t try to get me to cut his End Day short.”

“We want to increase all of your days, garrochón,” Floyd says. “Death-Cast is providing us with a unique opportunity to get you the care you need, but there’s a lot of preparation that needs to go into it too.”

“That shit can go wrong now,” I say.

“Language,” Dayana says, looking at Dahlia as if she’s not cursing behind their backs.

“Look, I might not be an official Decker, but I could die tonight too. Are you going to feel good if we rush Valentino’s death and I also die?”

Everyone is quiet, and Dalma is fighting back words, but just like the middle of the night at the hospital, she loses against herself. “This isn’t about us, Orion. You and Valentino have formed this really beautiful relationship, and it’s heartbreaking that you won’t have more time together. But how are you going to feel if Valentino dies in vain and then you do too?”

I’m pretty damn close to being a smart-ass and telling her I won’t feel anything because I’ll be dead, but I stay shut because everyone’s heart is in the right place and they’re just trying to swap out mine for Valentino’s. They don’t get how hard it’s going to be to live because of Valentino and without him. How every heartbeat is going to be him whispering for the rest of my life. I just don’t want to hear him telling me from beyond the grave that I pushed him to die so I can live.