I reach for my bag from the floor beside the sofa. The movement shifts the cushion and her eyes open.
Just for a moment. Just enough.
"Are you leaving?" she murmurs. Her voice is thick with sleep, not quite here.
"Yes," I say, quietly. "Rest."
She lifts her hand. Slow, uncertain, the way you reach for something in the dark. I take it.
She squeezes once. "Come back."
"I will."
Her eyes close again. Her breathing evens within seconds and she is gone back under. I set her hand down carefully on the blanket and stay there a moment longer than I need to.
The words sit under my ribs and stay there.
I look up. Adrian is in the doorway. He has been watching the whole thing and his face is doing nothing at all, which by now I understand means it is doing a great deal.
We leave the house i
