Hey everyone! First of all, wow! Thank you sooo much for the wonderful reviews! I'm so happy you like the story so far :-D

About the rest of the story – I'm definitely going to write about those two as adults. I'm getting really attached here haha. Anyway, here's a new chapter. It's a bit dark but I hope you'll still have a good time. Enjoy!

By the time they reached the driveway everybody was gone. The ambulance had left with howling sirens, taking the girl and the two women to the hospital. And with Law's mother on call and the father leaving with Pablo and the others, there was no one left at the house. Savenna stemmed her hands on her knees, breathing hard. "What do we do now?" she asked. "Follow them?"

Law nodded without a second thought. It seemed to be the wrong time to say something about Lamie, so instead Savenna hurried upstairs to look for a cloak big enough to hide her white hair. When she returned Law was staring down the driveway. The look on his face could have frozen her heart solid. "Let's go. I know a shortcut," she said.

The hospital was located a couple of streets from the city center. She knew her way around that part of town from the times she'd run away from home, backpacks full with food and silver, or as she put it, everything one needed to become a pirate.

And even without the necessary gear, running through other people's gardens, climbing through a bathroom window and biting someone's leg when they threatened to call the police, counted in the boy's eyes as breaking the law but he didn't complain.

They arrived at the hospital only a couple of minutes after the paramedics had admitted Lamie to the emergency room. The little brat is already digging my grave, Savenna cursed when stumbling over her own dress in the driveway and lowered the hood into her face. The sudden exertion made dots dance before her eyes but Law had taken care of her in spite of his injuries, so she wouldn't complain over non-existing stamina.

Wordlessly they made their way inside. People hurried past them, calling names and words she didn't understand. Confused, Savenna pressed herself against the wall to avoid a bed being wheeled into the corridor. "Is it always so busy here?"

"It can get crowded but I've never seen it like this," Law admitted.

"Do you know where they could have taken her?"

"South wing probably. My father's office."

Savenna nodded. "Through here then," she said pointing at the swinging door. They waited until a group of nurses rushed by before pushing it open.

Long rows of cots framed with white curtains gave it the air of a military hospital. Heavy breathing came from the bed next to Savenna. Immediately she retreated behind Law. That's when she noticed her disguise was useless. Cursing, moaning and screaming echoed inside the walls. The air smelled of cold sweat. Judging from the number of occupied beds, half of the city must have come seeking treatment.

As they moved through the rows, shaking, whitening limbs were the ones being examined. Somewhere a nurse was trying to tie a thrashing woman to the bed. On the other side a man was crying for painkillers. Savenna was close to pressing her hands over her ears.

Safe to say, Amber Lead was no longer a secret.

Covered by her wide cloak, Savenna avoided people she knew by name. She had passed her teacher in silence, thinking about how she wouldn't get interrogated on math again. One her father's sailors she had played cards with only a few months was being examined two beds over.

She forced herself to think of the cure the doctor had promised. If there was one, even just a trial drug, why weren't they given anything? It had taken the disease one night to fill the hospital with patients that were fine the day before. The longer they waited, the worse it would get. Why wasn't he doing anything?

She was relieved when finally Law navigated her into a dark corridor. "What in Roger's name are you doing here?" Sophia yelped as they approached the doctor's office. It was the same door they had come through the night the governess had discovered her first mark. Law started running again. Savenna tried to keep up and failed.

"I…" Savenna tried to explain.

"I know." Magdalena, who was waiting beside the maid, pulled her close. The governess' hair had come undone and Savenna knew that this meant something was wrong. "I'm so sorry for leaving you behind. I knew you were busy hiding baby doctor. I don't think I'd have found you…"

"I'm fine. What happened to her?"

"I don't know. I put her to bed yesterday and I didn't see a single mark. I was thorough, I'm sure of it… Then she heard the news about her brother today and simply collapsed. She even stopped breathing for a while. When we arrived here she was burning up."

"The fever came that fast?" Savenna found that hard to believe. "It took my poison weeks to get there."

The woman shrugged. These days it was hard to know anything for sure. Savenna lowered the hood and the white hair spilled like feathers out of a pillow. "What about the marks? If she doesn't have the marks, it could be something else, right?"

Magdalena shook her head. "They've already spread over her lower back. It's the lead."

The day felt like a blur. Savenna stayed in her spot on the floor until a nurse took her name and guided her to one of the other rooms in the south wing. After swearing she would stay awake, she dozed off the minute her head touched the pillow. Haunted by awful dreams, she woke in cold sweat. Magdalena didn't move from her bedside until she finally managed to cry.

Later she made several attempts to go looking for Law but Amber Lead would have none of that. Her fever returned and she was stuck with Magdalena's wet towel on her forehead and a thousand unanswered questions on her mind.

Seasons changed briskly in Flevance. Summer had barely arrived and already cold, gusty winds were rising over the ocean. But even with the one secret disease spreading around town, Savenna was still stuck at Trafalgar's side. The situation was worsening. She had been the only patient to survive the poison as it spread into her entire body, and she wasn't going anywhere until the doctor figured out why. Precisely because he knew how good she was at running away.

Things in the emergency room didn't improve either. New patients came in day and night, medical personnel started falling sick and the Trafalgars stopped going home in the evening.

As predicted, Lamie's condition advanced quicker than Savenna's. The poison took her like a lightning strike: hair white within a week, skin striped and burning. She had been put on medication immediately but still hardly left her bed. Mary watched over her most of the time and Law only left her side to help his father in the lab. It happened that Savenna didn't see him for days.

Sophia fell sick two weeks later. They were playing cards when Magdalena broke the news. Savenna had never been particularly fond of the Trafalgar maid, yet she couldn't stop thinking about the pranks she'd pulled and how it might have been the last thing they'd share. Which made her consider something else. "What about you, Maddy?" she asked. "Are you going to catch it too?"

Magdalena leaving had never been an option until now. Savenna wasn't prepared for that. Who would she spend her days with, and fall asleep against? She couldn't stay here by herself.

On the other end of the bed, the governess, who'd had time to work on her Logue Town Joker skills, killed Savenna's admiral with an ace of hearts and smiled. "I wasn't born here. The lead hasn't poisoned me long enough to affect my health in this lifetime. And one of those will be long enough for me." Only later did Savenna understand that her governess had already accepted the fact that she wouldn't have any children of her own, and she was glad she'd been sensible enough not to ask any more questions.

Leaves were falling off the large birch that threw shadows into Savenna's room in the afternoon. The color of bonfire flames, they sailed toward the ground before being picked up by the wind. It was mid-October when the first snow fell. It was early in the year for snow but on the other side of the glass Savenna hadn't noticed the time pass.

The hospital had become her bad-smelling, ugly, little world. She'd stopped minding the screams at night. She spent her waking hours going through patients' stuff, smuggling morphine to those who'd promise to tell her a dirty joke and hid under their bed when they died hoping to catch a glimpse of a soul leaving its body.

Her mother had visited once with flowers and her favorite chocolates. Savenna knew that the poison had ruined her own looks but to her surprise, her mother looked worse. She'd always been petite and somewhat frail but with her prominent cheekbones sinking her eyes deeper into her skull, her mother looked like a shell of a much bigger person. When Savenna asked about her father, something in her face turned sour. "He's gone on a business trip."

"Have you all lost your mind?" Savenna was furious. What were they thinking? Did it even occur to them that she might be dead before he returned? But the outburst was useless and her mother left as stiffly as she'd arrived.

As close to devastated as she'd let herself get, Savenna needed a distraction and the source was quickly established. With the lead gnawing its way into her bones, Lamie had to be wheeled around in a chair, which made her a priority patient but also an exceptionally assiduous audience.

Savenna visited her every day. She dressed her up in clothes she'd stolen from the morgue, braided both their hair Germa-style and read her from her favorite adventure books, changing the ending when she didn't feel like happily ever after.

Lamie didn't disappoint. Doe-eyed and bored out of her wits, she'd sit ramrod straight in her pillows, listening to Gol D. Roger's greatest exploits. Savenna might have not cared much about the Trafalgar sister's entertainment but she'd been right about one thing: being adored always did a great job lifting her spirits.

She wouldn't have admitted it to herself but having Lamie around stare was her only way to catch a glimpse of Law.

The Amber Lead numbers were growing daily and Law, though not yet a real doctor, had taken on his share of patients. And when he wasn't on call, he spent his time at Lamie's bedside, monitoring her fever, checking her medication and hooking her on all sorts of medical machinery. He had always looked tired but by then he'd stopped minding Savenna's vile language, barely noticed when she compared him to a new type of fungus and soon hardly acknowledged her presence at all.

Annoyed with her being another one of his natural states, Savenna wondered if she should be worried.

But Law's behavior wasn't the only reason for concern. Through her and Magdalena's newly established gossip network, she learned that they were running short on supplies. Painkillers had become a luxury and fever medicine was being rationed, provided only to the patients with lesser symptoms who were deemed more likely to survive. It had been months since Savenna had seen those pills on her tray. With her disease pattern that didn't really come as a surprise.

Every day she saw more body bags leave the hospital through the back entrance. The morgue wouldn't have them longer than twelve hours and the families were denied burials. Ignoring the appeal of the hospital staff, the city burned Amber Lead corpses as quickly as possible to keep the poison from spreading. On some nights Savenna volunteered to pour the gasoline to pass the time.

Two weeks after her mother's visit, she was listening to the little radio in Mary's office and learned she had been lied to. Rumors calling Amber Lead poisoning a highly contagious disease that could be transmitted by simple touch, had spread throughout the North. Their closest neighbors had been staying clear of Flevance merchant ships for months. They were in the midst of imposing a blockade on the mining kingdom and their merchandise. No ship that had anchored in Flevance Port within the last year would be allowed to dock anywhere from Swallow Island to the Grand Line.

Savenna's father wouldn't have been able to trade even if he'd wanted to. In three days' time, they'd be completely isolated from the rest of the world. If only Law had been the only one to fall for that stupid lie…

The mayor's speech attempting to comfort the population, was broadcasted the next day in the main hall of the hospital. Huddled between two nurses and the whitening back of a miner trying to move closer to the Transponder Radio, Savenna listened imperviously.

Who was that bureaucrat taking them for? By no stretch of imagination would things change for the better now that the world had officially turned their back on Flevance. They needed supplies, food, not to mention more medical staff. But a blockade made all that impossible.

In no mood for mass hysteria and with no new corpses leaving for the pyre, Savenna returned to her room. Disappointed to find Magdalena in her usual spot, she wrapped herself in a blanket and climbed on the windowsill.

The fire-colored leaves now peppered the frozen ground, while large snowflakes were already putting on the first layer of winter. Bearing down a cough, Savenna wondered if she'd still be here to see the snow melt. Then she breathed on the icy glass and started drawing an unseemly picture of Pablo's mother into the mist when there was a knock on the door.

"Come on in, Maddy!" she called. "Maybe you can help me with my artwork before this place goes to shit."

She was surprised to see a familiar mushroom standing in the doorway. She drew her knees closer to her chest. "Don't bother about painting. Not sure you're qualified for the job."

Law didn't seem offended. His white coat had been tailored for a grown man and most of his walking was reduced to an attempt of not tripping over his own feet. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from cold windows?"

"I'm in a disobeying mood right now," she said. "How's doctor-business going?"

"Same old. Morgue will be ready for you in an hour." Finally. Savenna didn't particularly appreciate the scent of charred human flesh but at least she was doing something.

After an approving nod, Law climbed up next to her and Savenna realized how long it had been since she last saw him up close. He had aged two years in a month. Either his bones had outgrown his skin or he'd lost his age in weight. The heavy eye-lids and the gray look on his face suggested he wasn't getting enough sleep. Was he just working hard or lying awake like she did?

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Savenna pressed her lips to a thin line. What kind of question was that? He wouldn't talk to her in weeks and after listening to the most recent batch of devastating news he wanted to know how she was feeling?

"Don't you have a snail?" she mocked. "Things are bad, Mushroom Head."

To her disbelief, inside the white coat his shoulders relaxed. "My father told me not to listen to these things. They are just trying to scare us. All we need to do is treat our patients. The World Government will help us with the rest." He smiled a half-smile. "What about your health? Any pain or fever?"

Savenna regretted not having a full bedpan to dunk his head in. "The World Government will help us? Are you kidding? There is no time for that!" She looked outside without seeing anything. She knew enough about politics to know that if the government decided to help them, it would be weeks if not months from now. Nobody in Flevance could wait that long.

She couldn't blame the doctors who had barricaded themselves in their offices after the radio transmission. They were scared and so was she. She tightened her blanket around her frame. "We need to get out of here before they close the borders for good."

"What…?"

Maybe she hadn't picked her words carefully enough but she wouldn't take them back. "I read some of the books in your mother's office when I couldn't sleep. And I think it's safe to say that Amber Lead poisoning has gone from disease to epidemic in the last few weeks. You know what your World Government does in such cases. We're only days away from a quarantine zone. "

Judging from the look on his face he knew where she was heading. His eyes hardened. "That's not an option."

Savenna couldn't believe it. Once she had logic on her side he refused to listen. Her white mane slammed into his face as she drew close. "What other options do you think we have? Hiding in this hospital forever? What about water, food and pills? Where do you want to get them from when no ship leaves the harbor? Maybe you should stop listening to your father."

Law was unwavering. "What about the others? Those who can't run and climb fences? Just because you'd be strong enough to pull it off doesn't mean the other patients would. You are wrong."

Savenna shook her head desperately. "Maybe but your father told me about it the night I got sick and here we are."

"He couldn't possibly have known how bad it was going to be…"

"He did and so did I!" she yelped. "And if you had taken some time to actually talk to me, I would have told you but you're never here!"

Law's eyes widened. "Are you blaming me now? Almost the whole medical school has fallen sick and a lot of nurses have already left. So I'm sorry, I can't just run off and leave people behind," he hissed through his teeth, clenching his fists.

Savenna hadn't expected him to burst out like that, fatigue must have taken a real toll on him. Yet, her scowl deepened. "I'm helping where I can. I'm stealing supplies from the dead, burning bodies and sitting with your stupid sister every stupid day. And I don't even like children!"

"Neither do I but I thought you liked my sister?"

"Shut up! That's not the point!"

"And what's the point then? You being selfish?"

"Don't you dare - !" she started but he didn't let her finish.

"You just don't understand," he said, voice resigned. "You don't need my help. When I saw you collapse on that street, I thought you'd be dead within days but somehow you survived all of your attacks. Medically speaking, you're the healthiest person here. But the others don't have your stupid stubbornness."

Anger churning in her stomach, she didn't know what to say. Magdalena had watched him treat her fever once and had done it ever since. The doctor had approved it, there wasn't much more he could do. Her sickness was too advanced. When he stopped by it was just to push a new pill down her throat and note with a certain degree of surprise that she was still alive.

So yes, she did spend her days strolling about the hospital but only because it took her mind off her slowly approaching demise. Law didn't know anything about that because unlike her, he was on the right side of the tunnel.

"And Lamie," he continued. He was angry. "She's nothing like you either. She needs every help I can provide. And you don't have brothers and sisters, it's not my fault you can't imagine what it's like being responsible for someone else." Savenna remained silent. "She's my family. I could never leave her behind. But you don't know what that means either, do you? If you did, you'd be with your own family right now instead of pestering mine!"

Law had argued so passionately, he didn't see her flinch.

Mary had been right, he was a good student. He had learned how to be cruel in less than a month. She knew he expected her counter. An insult or a shove. But when she kept staring at the dead trees outside, something in his face changed. A knock on the door broke the silence before he could say something.

A young nurse entered with a quick bow. "Trafalgar Law, your father needs you in his office."

Law turned toward Savenna but when he realized she didn't care what he did, he left with shoulders hanging low.

Alone, Savenna thought skillfully about why she hated people. It was an exercise she had been forced to resort to the day Madgalena informed her that punching people in the face was generally frowned upon. Burning them in hypothetical flames of her imaginary hell wasn't as good as the first option, but it made reality a little easier to bear.

That day, her damnation list was rather long and every entry faded next to her dislike

for the entire Trafalgar family. The perfect mother, making sacrifices for her annoying children, and not seeing that neither of the little shits deserved it. The smart, respected father, who could do everything except keep promises and talk to his son. Poor, little Lamie, rewarded for being sick and helpless. Roger, how hard did she want to see that brat writhe and scream with pain with no one to hold her hand.

And Law. Who was insufferable but who had done nothing wrong apart from knowing her too well. If he'd only left her alone like everyone else…

She had been raised by strangers, spoke her first words sitting on a captain's lap and learned to ride a bike with bruises instead of training wheels, all of which she prided herself for. Only Law might have guessed that she'd hated most of it. She'd missed her parents from day one, and now most of all. She'd tried to go home many times. But if it wasn't Trafalgar keeping her hostage, or the guards blocking her way, it were her letters and snails that would go unanswered. Her family was out or busy, or whatever. There was always an explanation…

The Trafalgars were the only ones who'd been there, she was mortified with shame to have thought she'd found a home with them. Ashamed she had even tried. Stupid little girl… This fault was her own and there was no one to throw into the pit but herself.

Savenna sighed. The one time she'd needed the list to calm her down, it made her feel even worse. Shaking the chill out of her limbs, she reached for the history books on her nightstand.

That would get her mind off things. Looking for a solution. Even if Law wouldn't help. So be it. She didn't need him. Soon she was so engrossed in the chapter on North Blue epidemics that she didn't hear the third knock on the door. When the nurse's braids entered her field of vision, she didn't give it much thought. "The fungus isn't here," she said. "If you help me kick him out, you'll be the first to know when he shows up."

The nurse's face turned blank. She opened her mouth to say something, then didn't. Savenna wondered if she was drunk. "What is it? Corpse-time already?" She couldn't have been that late.

The nurse looked away. "I'm sorry, Miss Savenna", she said. "It's your father. He's been brought in."

The corridors stretched into infinity every time Savenna turned a corner. As if trying to hold her back, the hospital had transformed into a labyrinth of airless rooms and crowded hallways. She ran as if chased by a pack of hungry dogs, her temples throbbing violently. An upcoming cough rose in her throat but she forced it down.

Heading straight to the emergency room, she had lost the nurse somewhere between the lab and the operating room but she was long past needing a guide. As soon as she stormed through the doors, the foul, acrid smell of slow death hit her in the face. Windows were kept open despite the cold but it had already settled inside the walls.

All the way Savenna wanted to slap herself. She had always known. She had just refused to acknowledge it. She remembered her father being there the night they had brought her to the hospital. She hadn't been the only patient. Her father had been sick long before she was.

Her mother hadn't known. Savenna should have been able to tell she was lying. But just like Law, she had been too scared to face the truth.

The sprint had used up the strength in her legs, so she advanced from bedpost to bedpost, huffing and panting among the familiar cots. Magdalena stood quietly, her hands folded, next to a bed shielded by curtains. It didn't seem any different from the others and for a short time Savenna doubted the news to be true. She pushed herself forward and spied over the governess' shoulder.

The patient was thrashing about him. Someone had tied him to the bed. White, disarrayed hair covered a face distorted into a monstrous grimace. Her father's eyes were pressed together, dry lips producing wet, unintelligible noises. Amber Lead had spread over his entire chest, revealing white blood vessels and cramped muscles.

"What is she doing here?" Her mother's voice made her flinch. "Someone, please, get my daughter out of here. This isn't the place for a child!"

She's gone mad. Savenna realized it wasn't just her father she didn't recognize. Her mother looked like she was about to jump at her, eyes blazed with venom.

No one moved.

"I'm sorry, I thought it would be only fair to tell the girl. I -" the nurse who had finally caught up with her, tried to explain but fell silent at the mother's gaze. "And I think it will be fair to talk to doctor Trafalgar and get you suspended for such irresponsible behavior!" She swirled around, almost desperate. "What is wrong with you? Take her away!" When no one reacted, she seized her daughter by the arm. Her hands felt cold. Savenna jerked away but her mother wouldn't let go. "This is not the time to make a scene, Savenna! Don't you see your father is in pain? I will not allow -."

"Shut up!" Savenna's ice-colored hair exploded around her like a sharp, electric halo. With a force she didn't know she possessed, she freed herself, face twisted in anger. "He's my father and I have as much right to be here as you. And don't you dare lie to me ever again!"

They still weren't moving but now they were looking. It was the same look Law gave her after the festival. Bewilderment laced with fear. Like someone who'd just been punched in the gut but had already forgotten.

No one objected when she approached the bed, or asked to see the patient's chart. Even her mother kept her distance and Savenna didn't mind. But when she leaned in close to her father, she realized it wasn't just them. The moment he caught sight of her, a dry scream left his throat. Whatever he was seeing behind her colorless eyes, and the transparent skin, it wasn't her.

To calm him down she started talking. She told him about what happened in the last months, how she had beaten up a bunch of boys and stolen their Germa figurines. That the latter had happened in the hospital and that most of them were dead by now wasn't really worth mentioning. He didn't give any sign of understanding but she kept going. She told him about Law and Lamie, the squirrels in Trafalgar garden and Sophia's annoying voice.

When her mother left the ward for some fresh air, Savenna asked the nurse about her father's condition. His illness had been progressing faster in the last couple of weeks. Apparently he had been coming to the hospital for regular check-ups but refused to admit himself to the hospital until her mother had no other choice but to call an ambulance.

"How are the odds? Is he going to live?"

Despite the numerous death certificates the nurse signed every day, she seemed uncomfortable discussing the subject with Savenna. Only under Magdalena's sharp gaze did she start speaking. "There is hardly any chance I'm afraid. The lead has reached his bone marrow." She reached into the pocket of her coat and injected a pale liquid into her father's arm. "This will help with the pain. But unfortunately it's all we can do."

"How long does he have?"

"A day maybe, with some luck."

Receiving the news upon her return, Savenna's mother started yelling at the staff and thrashing about until two shots of tranquiliser punched the rage out of her. She collapsed onto a chair. Comforting her was pointless, she used the little force she had left to push Savenna away.

This time Savenna didn't think much about death. She only hoped that this time it would be quick.

It wasn't. It took her father five hours and twenty minutes to die from Amber Lead poisoning. Toward the end he was shaking with seizures, coughing blood and screaming through the leather pushed between his teeth preventing him from biting his own tongue. At the sight of blood, her mother threw up and had to be brought away. Magdalena helped Savenna cool him down with wet towels until his heart stopped a few moments before midnight. Without the nurse, it took Savenna a while to notice she was clinging to a corpse.

It was late when the police came to claim her father's body. Savenna observed the scene like a strange theater performance. Magdalena talked to the agents, bargaining for a decent funeral which wasn't granted. His body would be burned just like the others. There was no time to say goodbye. The hospital needed the bed.

Savenna insisted on doing the burning herself but they wouldn't let her. "She's just a child and that's not a place to spend the night, especially if she's a patient." She was locked out of the ward after throwing surgery needles at their faces.

The hallways blurred into one as Savenna's feet tried to find their way back to her room. Her head pounded and the Amber Lead dizziness had transformed into a sharp pain in her back. Disoriented, she concentrated on putting one foot ahead of the other. The last hours were too much to think about. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd make a list. A longer, better list of everything and everyone she despised in this world.

Her once white dress caked in blood and sweat, she pushed open the door to her room. It was late and the street lights plunged the furniture into a blueish twilight. Then her fingers stiffened around the doorknob.

Someone was sitting on her bed, knees pressed hard to their chest. Savenna held her breath. Given the amount of corpses she'd come across, it wasn't improbable that one of them would come to haunt her. Savenna squinted and her face hardened. "You!"

Law's mushroom hat fell on the floor when he turned around. He looked puzzled, as if he hadn't heard her enter.

Savenna couldn't care less. "Pick up that monstrosity and get lost!"

Law didn't move. His eyes wandered outside the window.

"Does doctor-boy need an ear exam?" She slammed the door shut so hard her nightstand books tipped off the edge. Hands balled into fists she positioned herself in front of him. Law's face had paled to a bluish hue, his bottom lip trembling as if he wanted to say something but she cut him off. "You know what, Mr Family? My father just died and I don't even get to light the match. So please pick up your wisdom and leave me the hell alone!"

Law's hollow eyes widened. "I… I didn't know…"

"Of course you didn't! Why should you?"

"I didn't mean what I said earlier… "

"Newsflash, I don't care!"

There was something fragile, almost helpless about him. Savenna decided to ignore it. He didn't get to insult her and come back for a chat. "What the hell is your problem? This is my room."

When Law gritted his teeth she realized he was pressing down a sob. Knowing him, the last thing he'd do was cry in front of her. Slowly, he rolled down his sleeve and stretched out his arm. Savenna cocked her head to the side. "You think I need your arms to drag you to the door? Funny."

Law kept staring at his feet. Savenna was prepared to make good on her threat but hesitated. Why would Law get up in the middle of the night just to show her his arm? A cruel thought crossed her mind as she stepped closer.

White marks ate away at his wrist and elbow. The light falling in through the window was bright enough to illuminate the ghostly shine of Amber Lead. "Not you too," she whispered after covering her lips with the palm of her hand.

"I know I'm a coward. But I didn't know where else to go…" His face had retreated into the dark.

Savenna's mind went blank. When thoughts came, they hurt. Even looking at him now was too much. First thing she knew, she felt her fingers bury themselves in his arm, face burning. She might be crying, she couldn't tell. As if suffering a blow to the head, she tripped twice when climbing on the bed. He was shaking when she locked him in a violent grip, his forehead pressed into her shoulder. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, only that she was too scared to let go.