Page 22 (1/2)

Dante put a hand to uided my face to his "You won’t lose me," he said "I would never let that happen I proers stroking ainst the back ofthe boat beneath us tilt and sway, pulling our bodies apart and then pushing us back together until I drifted to sleep in his ar hi I was still asleep But he didn’t need to say it, because I already knew

I awoke the nextup, I turned to the space beside me where the shape of Dante’s body was still ih I kneould be cold I shouldn’t have been upset; I knew that he would have to leave by ht, before the Monitor sweep But no et used to his absence

Out the , it was a dull rainy day I gatheredas I steadied myself and tried to put on my clothes I was about to leave when I picked upon the floor beneath it was a note It ot up

I unfolded it

I pro that Dante was still with ot back to the dorht to Anya’s roo in the doorway in a black juhts Her red hair was pulled into a loose braid

"Oh good," she said "You remembered this time"

We didn’t have a plan e set out I figured we could just follohat I’d done in o to the reception area, and tell the brilliant, but ere going to a hospital How hard could it be?

We traveled there by foot, Anya holding a wobbly uh the puddles The Royal Victoria Hospital was just as I re up to ain the wind Inside, the building had glossy floors and clean white walls A line of nurses sat behind the reception area, typing I walked toward the behindhair "We’re here for visiting hours" I placed the bouquet of flowers on the counter for e?"

"Er--room 151"

"In which ward?"

"Pediatrics," I replied, a little too stiffly

She typed so into her computer, and then frowned "What’s the naave Anya a panicked look This wasn’t supposed to happen "U in "He’s my cousin"

I nodded "Her cousin"

"Last na us a suspicious look

"LaGuerre," I blurted out

After typing so else into her computer, she leaned back in her chair "Pierre LaGuerre?"

It sounded so silly when she said it out loud "There is no patient here with that na to our records"

I could feel myself start to sweat "Oh, um--"

"What are your names?" The nurse’s voice was stern as she picked up a pencil

Anya kicked me just as I was about to answer "Ourhospital"

The nurse stood up, but before she could respond, Anya grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the exit

"Nohat?" I asked, once ere outside

"We go through the tunnels"

She led me to a mall, where we took an escalator down, down, down, until we eray and lit with bright fluorescent lights that , drinking coffee, heading toward the food court, which stank of hot oil

I followed Anya as she wove through the tunnel systeht, past a rocery store, until we made it to a tunnel that had been almost completely blocked off by ce past a shallow puddle of orange water

"How do you know about this?" I asked, sucking in a breath as I pressed ainst the side of the tunnel and followed her

"All of the Russians here know about theh a dank corridor lined with rust "We were the ones who built therants When I was little, h all the barricaded tunnels"

At the end was a narrow stairway that led to a single door Anya pushed it open with her shoulder It opened into a long storage closet in the hospital Kicking away a box, I stepped over a loves--until I ht

"Let’s use these," Anya said, and picked up a sheet of visitor stickers Writing the name Tanya on one sticker, she peeled it off and stuck it on her shirt She then wrote Dasha on another sticker and stuck it onto the footsteps outside, and when there was a lull, we snuck out