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He ith a start, and found Madelaine standing beside his bed He stared up at her, his breath co pants “H-Hi, Mad”

She pulled up a chair “You okay?”

“No,” he answered without thinking, throwing his vulnerability on the blankets between them He almost yanked it back and said Yes, hell yes, then he looked into her gray-green eyes and realized that he was tired of lying, tired of covering up the truth Yesterday he’d felt as if he’d seen a gliain Lonely and forgotten and sick The drea him

“No,” he said again, quieter this ti of Francis It’s not normal It’s like… like he’s insideto me Sometimes I even think like he used to”

“You couldn’t have anyone better inside you, Angel”

“I know” He sighed “Yesterday, in my dream, he said ‘live for me’” He sed hard “How could I do that—live for a man like him? He was so much better than I’ll ever be”

She scooted closer to the bed “You’ve been given the second chance he never got, Angel Only you can decide what to do with it”

“Oh, great, now pile a little guilt on me”

“Not guilt Hope”

He grabbed the three-ring binder beside the bed “How much hope can I have when this is my life?”

“Quit being so melodramatic That notebook isn’t your life—it’s just your routine The schedule of your new life The ht add, if you want to see each new sunrise—and the foods you should eat The exercises you’ll have to begin The dates of each checkup and test for the next six months A plain old schedule Ordinary people follow them all the time”

“Oh, I can’t wait”

“It’s too bad you’re in such a foul mood today, because I have a surprise for you Someone I want you to meet”

“If you putto blow your recovery stats through the roof”

“No shrinks, no physical therapists, no nurses Just a single sixteen-year-old girl”