I pulled my eyes open. Jeb was beside Walter, whose face still looked as if he slept.

“Bye, Walt,” Jeb said. “See you on the other side.”

He stepped back.

“You’re a good man. You’ll be missed,” Jared murmured.

Doc was fumbling in the package of morphine again. The paper crackled.

“Gladdie?” Walt sobbed. “It hurts.”

“Shhh. It won’t hurt much longer. Doc will make it stop.”

“Gladdie?”

“Yes?”

“I love you, Gladdie. I’ve loved you my whole life long.”

“I know, Walter. I—I love you, too. You know how I love you.”

Walter sighed.

I closed my eyes when Doc leaned over Walter with the syringe.

“Sleep well, friend,” Doc murmured.

Walter’s fingers relaxed, loosened. I held on to them—I was the one clinging now.

The minutes passed, and all was quiet except my breathing. It was hitching and breaking, tending toward quiet sobs.

Someone patted my shoulder. “He’s gone, Wanda,” Doc said, his voice thick. “He’s out of pain.”

He pulled my hand free and rolled me carefully out of my awkward position into one that was less agonizing. But only slightly so. Now that I knew Walter wouldn’t be disturbed, the sobs were not so quiet. I clutched at my side, where it throbbed.

“Oh, go ahead. You won’t be happy otherwise,” Jared muttered in a grudging tone. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t do it.

Something stung my arm. I didn’t remember having hurt my arm. And in such a strange place, just inside my elbow…

Morphine, Melanie whispered.

We were already drifting now. I tried to be alarmed, but I couldn’t be. I was too far gone.

No one said goodbye, I thought dully. I couldn’t expect Jared… but Jeb… Doc… Ian wasn’t here…

No one’s dying, she promised me. Just sleeping this time…

When I woke, the ceiling above me was dim, starlit. Nighttime. There were so many stars. I wondered where I was. There were no black obstructions, no pieces of ceiling in my view. Just stars and stars and stars…

Wind fanned my face. It smelled like… dust and… something I couldn’t put my finger on. An absence. The musty smell was gone. No sulfur, and it was so dry.

“Wanda?” someone whispered, touching my good cheek.

My eyes found Ian’s face, white in the starlight, leaning over me. His hand on my skin was cooler than the breeze, but the air was so dry it wasn’t uncomfortable. Where was I?

“Wanda? Are you awake? They won’t wait any longer.”

I whispered because he did. “What?”

“They’re starting already. I knew you would want to be here.”

“She comin’ around?” Jeb’s voice asked.

“What’s starting?” I asked.

“Walter’s funeral.”

I tried to sit up, but my body was all rubbery. Ian’s hand moved to my forehead, holding me down.