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“Yeah,” she said, looking at her sister’s door The whole landscape had changed with this ruling A denied petition would have moved them all back to Start; in time, they would have reconciled andelse This was the beginning of a new and specific hope And suddenly she understood every word Vivi Ann had said to her

She hadn’t been fully listening before: her twin flaws, ambition and certainty, had deafened her She’d focused on undoing a wrong, righting her ownto protect her son Her sister had understood all along that they could win the battle and lose the war

Winona often wondered in the next fewfor the test results was like having a faucet drip constantly in the back of your mind She knew Noah was as unnerved by it as she was As Vivi Ann had predicted, he was falling apart a littletests

But it was Dallas she really worried about Shehim every other week;to say April faded into May, which blended into June The tourists ca noise andever changed Life could be vibrant and bright outside of these walls It was always gray and dark within

“You need to get some sleep,” she’d said to him on her last visit It had been the only time he’d smiled that day

“I guess I should have thought of that before we started this thing”

“Are you scared?” she’d asked

“Scared is a fact of life forthe dirty hair from his eyes

Winona had had nothing to say in response So she’d changed the conversation, adding hope to the list of topics to steer away from

How e in a week and a half That hat she thought on this Wednesday afternoon as she followed the guard down to herwith Dallas

Once in the roo from one foot to the other, too excited to sit down

Finally the door opened and Dallas was there His hair was dirty and lank, his face was pale, and he moved aardly, as if his whole body hurt As always his ankles and wrists were shackled “Hey, Winona,” he said

“You sound sick Do you need a doctor?”

He laughed at that The sound dissolved into a cough “It’s just June I’ around here Razor wire, maybe”

“Sit down, Dallas”