“I’d try to get you to say yes.” His rough, pained words brought more despair than comfort.
“Yes to what?”
“To me.”
I pulled back, and he let me go.
“If I weren’t a Judgement or connected to Blake, I would say yes,” I said sadly.
He stopped breathing and pressed his hand to his chest. The Others started to swirl around him in a frenzy, and he slowly sank to a knee.
Panic gripped me. I’d said too much. I’d opened up too much.
“Jim, don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you.”
Just as I reached for him, the door burst open. Whoever strode in, moved too fast for me to identify them by their walk or shape.
One came toward me. The other went toward Jim. In seconds, I was up in someone’s arms and being taken from the room. The pressure on my back brought tears to my eyes.
“He needs to be okay,” I said desperately. “Make sure he’s okay.”
“We will,” Winifred said. “He just needs a little space to calm down.”
“Please let me walk,” I begged, unable to hold back a moan of pain.
I immediately found myself on my feet.
“I’m so sorry, Olivia. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, it’s okay. Jim first. I understand.”
“I can see why he was having trouble,” she said. “Your shirt is slightly see through.”
I blushed.
“I didn’t know when I packed it.”
“I imagine not.”
“Do you have one I could borrow? Is it morning yet? I had a watch that told me the time, but Frank took it.”
“It’s after six. Close enough to morning. Let’s get you a shirt.”
I followed her the rest of the way to her room, and saw two other people laying snuggled in bed before she opened the door.
“I’ll wait out here,” I said.
“Nonsense. Come in. Michelle’s up already, anyway.”
As soon as I stepped into the room, I noticed one of the pair held an object. The shape had me thinking it might be some kind of tablet.
“Morning, Olivia. It’s Michelle,” Michelle said.
Surprise shot through me. No one ever announced themselves, leaving me to guess based on their voices and movement. Her consideration warmed me.
“Good morning, Michelle. Couldn’t sleep?” I asked as Winifred went to look through the bags in her room.
“Not really. I kept thinking about the desert I saw in the white room. I think I might have found it.”
