Chapter 45Lina
Kim went on and on about some hike she’d participated in over the holidays as they drove. Lina nodded and commented in short syllables when necessary but soon became quiet, as it was clear that Kim was happy enough to hear herself talk. As the car sped away from everything that had become familiar over the last week and toward what was yet another version of life in 2023, Lina felt herself become more and more numb as she silently stared out the window.
Over. Her time with Emery was over. They’d used every minute of the last two days to be close to one another in every way possible. Yet Lina had cried alone when she awoke at four this morning. It had come over her all of a sudden in the moonlit bathroom, just as she’d finished washing her hands and was poised to crawl back
