“Savannah?” The voice was unrecognizable, choked with panic. Hands gripped my shoulders. “Come on, Savannah. Wake up. Just open your eyes. Please open your eyes.

I tried. I really tried. But the most I could do was flutter my eyelids enough to see Adam bent over me.

“That’s it. Just stay with me. Please stay with me.”

“Jesse...”

“He’s fine. He’s gone to call an ambulance.”

“I...”

“Don’t talk. Just stay with me, baby, okay? Stay with me.”

Everything went dark again.

I FELT LIKE I’d been dropped ten stories onto the subway tracks, electrocuted, then run over by a half-dozen trains. My muscles ached. My head pounded. Each breath took effort. I could hear the blip-blip of machines and smell the stink of overcooked lasagna, laced with antiseptic. Even with my eyes closed, the light scorched my eyeballs. Cold air blew over me, freezing everything except one hand, which was warm, cupped in someone’s. Fingers brushed hair from my forehead. Touched my cheek. Rested there a moment, then brushed the hair back again, lulling me to sleep.

When I woke again, someone was rubbing my shoulder, murmuring something I couldn’t make out.

With effort, I cracked open my eyes. It was Adam, pale under his tan, eyes bleary, hair standing up, like he’d been running his hands through it.

“You look like hell,” I whispered, throat aching with the strain.

He let out a shaky laugh, hand tightening on my shoulder.

“Not going to tell me I look worse?” I whispered.

“No.” He bent down, lips brushing my forehead. “You look great.”

I squeezed my eyes shut against a different ache. I wished he’d joked back. And I was glad he hadn’t.

“Guess Dr. Lee found an antidote, huh?” I said.

“He always had it. We just needed to know which poison it was. He figured it out from your symptoms and had it ready when we arrived. It was close, though. Too close.”

I craned my head to take in the room. I was in Dr. Lee’s clinic in Portland.

“Paige and Lucas aren’t here,” he said as he straightened. “I called a few times, but they must have been out for the day. They’re probably back by now. I’ll go call—”

I gripped his hand as he tried to walk away. “No.”

“They should know.”

I shook my head. “If Dr. Lee says I’ll be fine, then let them finish their vacation.”

His mouth tightened. “They should know, Savannah.”

“They will, when they get back.” I managed a smile. “If they get mad, blame me.”

Blame me.

I thought about Michael. About Claire. About that security guard. About the homeless guy.

“Savannah?” Adam leaned over me, face drawn with fresh worry.

“Just tired. Don’t call them, okay?” I tightened my grip on his hand. “Just stay.”