I was an ass to her, always tried to make her realize she was putting herself in danger for no reason, but she always pushed back. She loved getting the best of me back then.
Where are you now, Alex?
“Dude,” Reed groaned. “Are you having flashbacks or something? Listen, I know you’re not into the whole therapy thing, but youdefinitelyhave post traumatic stress?—”
“—WildGuard,” my tone was clipped as I ground out his Hero name. “Shut up.”
THREE
ALEX
Moss-coveredstones were cool and plush beneath my bare feet.
Rushing water filled my ears, and towering conifer trees cast a shadow over the Triberg Waterfalls. I’d only been to Germany once on a mission, but I’d made sure to visit the Black Forest before I left. I was glad now that I did.
Elaine splashed beside me, holding her skirt as she danced in the water. She was ninety-two-years-old, and hadn’t been to her homeland in forty years. It was her dying wish—to visit the forest her father used to hike in. I was told that she’d been battling congestive heart failure for six years; she was a trooper, stronger than I could ever hope to be.
But Elaine had a burst of energy after spending weeks in bed—she’d been talking more, even asking if she could go for a walk. Her care team had called me in immediately; it was her time. She would be gone soon.
“How are you feeling, Elaine?” I asked, slapping a smile on my face, as if her body hadn’t begun to blur.
That was the thing about my daydreams. I could pull anyone in as long as I had a clear picture of them; what they lookedlike, their voice, even their smell helped. But when they started to die, when their consciousness was slipping away, they faded out of the scene. That was my job—keep them in until they disappeared. It would be painless; pulling them into my mind meant they were temporarily detached from their bodies, a sort of disconnect that protected them from the worst of it.
To Elaine, she was home.
She would pass away here, and I would watch it happen.
“Oh,” she cooed, “like a girl again. I could stay here forever.”
I nodded. “We’ll stay as long as you’d like; we have all the time in the world.”
Sometimes they were aware of what was happening — the ones that had been going slowly, the ones who were still lucid. Others had no idea, they really believed in my daydream; they took it as reality.
Elaine paused, staring up at the sun that shone beneath conifer leaves, and smiled. “You don’t have to lie to me. My time is up, I know. I’ve lived a long life—I have no regrets. It’s quite beautiful if you think about it.”
“Good,” my lips trembled. “That’s good.”
Her body flickered, her wrinkled skin growing transparent as her blue eyes began to dull. “This task must be a heavy one; I doubt everyone you see is as ready.”
The waterfall went silent as I lost my focus, my chest squeezing. “It depends on the day, I guess.”
She placed her hands on her hips and turned to me, a grin spreading across her face. “Thank you, Miss Graham. I couldn’t think of a better end.”
Before I could respond, her form flickered again, and she was gone. I sat alone in the Black Forest, all the sounds quiet, the moss and water beneath my feet now nothing but an image. It was a strange, lonely feeling. Every time they left, I had to wait for someone to wake me back up. Once the nurses saw her vitals,once they pronounced her time of death, they’d bring me back. Until then, I was stuck, sitting in a dream that wasn’t my own.
A solitary wake, to honor the ones I helped pass on.
“Good work today, Alex,”Doctor B smiled.
Steven Buenrostro was one of the best doctors at Nightmyre Hospital and had one of the longest last names I’d ever had to pronounce. The first time we met, he mercifully told me to call him ‘Doctor B’, and I nearly keeled over from the relief. I hated getting names wrong.
He was the lead in creating a program where Variants helped terminal patients with their pain, or passing on. Doctor B was the entire reason I could survive without the VIA; most of my paychecks came straight from contract work with the hospital, and he was always the one to request me. He was twenty years my senior and had the demeanor of a cool dad that never actually had kids.
“It was the usual,” I sighed and forced a smile onto my face. “No biggie.”
After my appointment with Minnie, I took her advice to heart, and Joon’s silent words, and hit the ground running. I’d called the hospital back and started filling up every empty space in my schedule with work. Elaine was the sixth patient I’d watched die today, but I’d spent the most time with her. Sometimes, it was quick—I’d happen to be in the hospital while someone coded in the ER, and the doctors knew there was no saving them. Other times, it was like Elaine, where the signs were there but no time frame for when it would happen.
But they died happy; they died in peace. On soft, sandy beaches, or in the mountains hunting even though they hadn’twalked for years, or my favorite of the day—gorging themselves on authentic ramen, right in the middle of Japan. That one, unfortunately, was too fast. We’d only been under for twenty minutes before I’d been jolted awake by smelling salts, the faint taste of pork broth still on my tongue.
