@@@@@The life that had finally tied me to one
@@@@@The life that had finally tied me to one star, to one planet, to one small family of
strangers
A little more time… would that be so wrong?
No,Mel whisperedust take a little more time
You never know how much time you'll have,I whispered backI knew exactly how much time I hadI couldn't take any more timeI had to do the right thing, be my true self, with what time I had left
With a sigh that seemed to come all the way from the soles of my feet and the palms of my
hands, I got up
Aaron and Brandt wouldn't wait foreverAnd now I had a few more questions that I needed
answeredThis time, the questions were for Doc
The caves were full of sad, cast-down eyesIt was easy enough to slip unobtrusively past them
allNo one cared what I was doing right now, except maybe Jeb, Brandt, and Aaron, and they
weren't here
I didn't have an open, rainy field, but at least I had the long south tunnelIt was too dark to run
flat out the way I wanted, but I kept up a steady jogIt felt good as my muscles warmed
I expected I would find Doc already there, but I'd wait if I had toPoor
Doc, that was usually the case now
Doc had been sleeping alone in his hospital since the night we'd saved Jamie's lifeSharon had
taken her things from their room and moved them to her mother's, and Doc wouldn't sleep in
the empty roomSharon would rather kill her own happiness, and Doc's, too, than forgive
him for helping me heal Jamie
Sharon and Maggie were barely a presence in the caves anymoreThey looked past everyone
now, the way they used to look past only meI wondered if that would change when I was
gone, or if they were both so rigid in their grudge that it would be too late for them to chan