“Dead, I know,” Lynell bites. Her blood feels hot and tears start clawing at the back of her eyes.

“No. He’s here. Came in yesterday with two bullet wounds. He was rushed into surgery. It went well. He’s recovering. He’s alive.”

They give her more painkillers and make her rest a few minutes before agreeing to take her to Daniel’s room. Her breaths feel cleaner than they ever have, and the drugs must have kicked in, because the pain feels dull and distant.

Carolyn transfers her to a wheelchair. Three guards, including Hayes, who tries to ask a question but is instantly cut off by Carolyn, follow them down the hallway, into the elevator, and up two floors. The trip on the elevator lasts years. Lynell is aware of everyone’s breaths, the hum of the elevator, and the rhythmic dinging of the transportable machine still attached to her.

They pass three other nurses, one of whom follows an old man who struggles to walk down the hallway, and two doctors, conversing in low tones, before they stop in front of Daniel’s door. Hayes demands that he check it first before Carolyn wheels Lynell inside.

Daniel’s face is sunken and pale. His lips look dry and all the light that Lynell is used to seeing in his eyes is absent.

Until he looks up and sees her.

His mouth falls open. “Lynell.”

Lynell smiles. Carolyn wheels her forward and as soon as she’s close enough, Lynell reaches for Daniel and wraps her arm over his chest. She buries her face in his neck and lets the tears loose. He grabs her with one hand, grips her shirt, and presses his lips to the top of her head.

“Please, be careful,” Carolyn says. Lynell ignores her, holding onto Daniel even tighter, despite the awkward angle.

“I thought you were gone,” he says.

Lynell leans back and looks into his eyes. “I thought you were gone, too.”

“I promised I’d never leave you again, didn’t I?”

Lynell nods. They press their lips together, and the world seems to straighten.

“How’d you do it? How’d you get out?” Daniel asks when they pull apart.

“Eric’s an ass, and I’m a smooth talker,” she says, suddenly aware of Hayes and the other two guards in the room. She turns around and says, “Would you please wait in the hallway, guys.” Hayes looks ready to argue but at Lynell’s expression, he nods, and they disappear. She turns back to Daniel who raises his eyebrows.

“It’s mine. All of it. Eric is dead.” The word causes her throat to freeze for a second. “Ramsey, one of the guards, shot him to save me.”

“And . . .” Daniel says, eyes casting down. “Zach? Is he really gone?”

Lynell sucks her lips between her teeth and nods. “I didn’t want him to die,” she whispers.

“Without him, we would both be gone. Anna, too,” Daniel says.

Her next breath tumbles from her lips with a wet cough. Heat radiates from her nose and eyes, and she asks, “Is Anna okay?”