"At being a person. At functioning. At remembering to eat."
"I don't feel like I'm getting better."
"You don't have to feel it. You just have to do it."
He leaned back in his chair.
The sun was setting when Matt finally left.
He stood in the doorway, his hand on the frame, his eyes on the wall behind me.
"You need to sleep tonight. Real sleep. Not the kind where you pass out from exhaustion."
"I'll try."
"That's not good enough."
"It's all I have."
"Then I'll stay."
"You don't have to—"
"I know. But I will."
He walked back inside and sat in the chair. The same chair. The same spot. The same steady presence.
"Matt."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For being here. For not giving up on me."
"I'm not going to give up on you, Bunny. You're the closest thing to family I've got."
The words landed in my chest like something warm.
"Family."
"Yeah. Family."
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
The wall was watching me.
Gabriel's face.
Mercy Logistics.
The Petrova Clinic.
The dispatcher.
The guard.
The warehouse.
The bodies.
