Alexis brought Peter back the next day, after they had taken Marianna to the airport. They were in the room when Quinn went in to look at the chart.

"We sent Marianna back to Florida," Alexis said. "School is starting. As to you, young man, you should be going back to school too, soon."

"Oh, I can miss school for this," Peter answered her. "Even Mom would agree. But you're coming back to Florida, Sander, aren't you? When you get out of here?"

"I don't know," Zander answered him. "I don't think I can handle that."

"No," Alexis said. "I don't want you to even try to make such a decision until you've been out of the hospital awhile. I have a job I need you to take, too. You're back in touch with your family, and that's good, but you're also 20, so you don't have to be in the same town. Like being away at college."

"Alexis is right," Quinn said. "There's something in the hospital manual about not making big decisions in the hospital if there's any possibility of putting them off. By definition, being in the hospital is being under stress, and one doesn't make good decisions under stress."

"I'm staying here, then," Peter declared.

"How do you plan to do that?" Zander asked him, teasingly.

"Why not? Mom isn't going to just leave you here. She can do her stuff from anywhere. You know how when Russians come to the US and always want to live where it's warm. But she knows how to deal with the cold. You should've gone to Yekaterinsburg. Oh, man, that place makes Moscow seem warm! Anyway, she'll just buy a house where you're at; I know she will. I can talk her into that in a flash."

"Why should you, change schools and all that? You can visit. She - " he looked at Quinn, then grinned, "Oksana can afford to send you up here every other weekend."

"You're a riot, Sander, always were!" Pete laughed. "And Wednesday nights, too, nyet? Heck, who cares about school? I don't do that good anyway. I'm sure they have schools here. One thing you can count on wherever you go, they have schools, and old Oksana will have me in one of them."

"You've got friends," Zander said.

"I'll email them. I'd rather be where you are. Gee, I haven't seen you in four years. Come on, admit it. You missed me."

"Of course I did. Everything I was trying to do, I could only keep going by thinking I was getting started somehow so I could help you out of that mess."

"Oh, it's all over now. We can handle Mom now. I know you don't think so, but it's changed, because Dad just isn't allowed to even talk to us without our saying he can. Now we know better than to follow him anywhere without proper documents, don't we Sander?"

"He has a point," Quinn said. "To think about. Later."

"Oh, I'm sorry Q., I keep pressuring him," Peter said. "But there's none, really, Zander. We'll just follow the leader, that's you."

"You want to live where it gets cold?" Zander said. "That'll be the day."

"Oh, I can handle a little cold weather. I survived all that time in Moscow, right?"

Zander laughed.

"Tim'll help me," Pete continued. "He's going to show me how to ski. There's all kinds of stuff we've never done, you and me, Sander, because of lack of snow and mountains."

Quinn said, "I think Peter will be happy anywhere."

"I agree," Alexis smiled. "Especially if he had his big brother to talk to."