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I reached a hand out There were too many words Bees shouldn’t talk That didn’t roaned, then, "Ow," because everything still hurt even after sleep My hand found so found hed The war more

"So cold," I told the warmth

And then the warmth answered, low and soft, " I don’t knohat to do"

I clutched the warmth that held h I tried to hold on Air blew pastI cried and the tears felt like rivers of ice

"Cold," I said I sed, but that felt worse instead of better I hated this I wanted it to be over Please Please

Please

"Please"

"I’m here, love Hold on"

The world fell over, bent sideways, broken And it cradled , I fell into war to be inside it, tostop

It was the sun, and it held me in its arms, called me by name, touched me from forehead to toes I fell asleep cradled in the sky in the arms of a star

When I woke next, h to know that I was sick I had to breathe through my nose because e of air My muscles ached and my stomach felt holloas still cold, but not frozen solid Thawed Sleep called ain I was still so tired

But I knew, knehat that otten mono after all

Which meant I had to tell Garrick But that could wait until s felt full and my throat was not on fire Once the fever broke, I would call hi that my knees and ht now they were nothing, but pain And then, I kneas dreaed my brain because Garrick was there beneath me, his bare chest my pillow It was cruel, this fever But I kneas only because I had thought of hi

His eyes were open, staring atCouldn’t be real

"Wish it was real," I whi

When I woke again, the chills had stopped, and I was alone Even though I kneas a drea it hadn’t been

I hadn’t noticed until now, orfor Garrick Maybe I had never stopped falling Every h still exhausted, this time I had to work to fall back in to sleep

"Bliss, wake up"

No time had passed at all ItWake up"

I tried to turn away, to crawl deeper into sleep, but soainstto let me lay down, so instead I leaned sideways

My headdown, but it was close enough I closed my eyes

"Oh, no you don’t Drink first Then you can sleep"

I was sleeping At least, I thought I was I must have been because out of nowhere a cup appeared in my hands It arm, almost as warm as the other hands wrapped around mine

It smelled wonderful, and I let the cup be pulled to my lips

Soup

Chicken noodle,was too hard I pushed the cup away

"Please, love I’ about you"

I knew those words, and it was cruel for my subconscious to parrot theer worried at all I looked up, and there he was, perhaps even more perfect in my dream state than in real life He was the sun He’d always been the sun--shining and brilliant

This was tooinside and out

"I miss you," I told ht"

He didn’t say he s I would want from him He told me, "Drink, Bliss We’ll talk when you are well"

I did as he asked because I was too tired to fight, too tired tothe liquid slide down my throat so I didn’t have to work so hard to s Halfway through the cup, I could take no more I pushed it away and he let ainst the pillows, but I was seized by so this… this drea Maybe Cade would arrive next, and Kelsey And for a little while, ain