DON'T SPEAK

WHEN I WOKE UP I WAS confused. My thoughts were hazy, still twisted up in dreams and nightmares; it took me longer than it should have to realize where I was.

The room was decadent. The bedside tables were gilded with filigree legs, the silk sheets I lay on luxurious against my skin. The walls were covered in sand colored grasscloth, with generic black splotch paintings framed and bolted beneath display lighting.

I tried to remember how I got here, but nothing came at first. I did remember the truck stop and the stolen car, and getting dizzy at the racing landscape that blurred past us. I think I remember crying to sleep. Struggling, I pulled a vague impression of leaving the car — the sun was just rising behind the horizon — being carried bridal style over a sidewalk. I had no memory of this room.

I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand, easily the cheapest looking thing in sight. The green numbers claimed it was three o'clock, but they gave no indication if it was night or day. No edge of light escaped the thick curtains, but the room was bright with the light from the lamps.

I rose stiffly and staggered to the window, pulling back the drapes. It was light outside, or as light as light could be hidden behind a hazy sky of thick, grey clouds. Three in the afternoon, then. My room looked out over a bustling cityscape, skyscrapers meeting me eye-to-eye. How far up we were was dizzying, and with instant nausea, I back away. It was slightly comforting to be able to pinpoint time at least.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing different clothes — a pair of baby blue silk pajamas I had never seen before. I didn't like the idea of Rosalie having changed me, seen me bare, but they felt nice on my skin at least. I looked around the room, glad when I discovered several shopping bags overcrowding the seating area in front of a large flatscreen. I tried not to focus on the recognizable labels.

I was on my way to read the note by the bags when I heard the door open, and there was Rosalie, carrying in a tray of room service effortlessly in one delicate hand. She shot me a look, as if unhappy I was out of bed. "You sleep far too much."

"It's been a long week." I eye the tray warily, wondering what was under the aluminum cloche. She brings it over to the crowded seating area, moving aside two shoe boxes to set it down. "You went shopping?"

"No, I haven't let you out of my sight." She corrects quickly, without providing a real answer. "You're more sick than I expected."

Or maybe not sick at all. "How's Bella?"

"They'll reach Phoenix around sunset." Rosalie answers. "Carlisle called Charlie. Your father thinks you're following your sister to Phoenix with him and Edward. Edward found you at Jessica Stanley's and convinced you to go with him, because he was worried and he thought you were the only one who could talk sense into Bella. Charlie has called twice — you were in the bathroom the first time on a pitstop, and you were asleep in the backseat the second time. Carlisle is concerned because you keep upsetting your stomach."

"Okay." I absorb the official story, trying to memorize the details. "Should I call him?"

She nods. "Tell him Carlisle drove through the night. You've stopped to rest at a hotel in Portland. You still haven't heard from your sister, she must be driving."

"Okay. Yeah, okay." I nod repeatedly, making my way across the carpet floor to the phone on the bedside table.

Charlie picks up on the third ring. "Bella?"

"It's Gracie." I can hear him exhale out of relief. "I'm fine, Dad. Have you heard from her yet?"

"No." His tone was off. "I get the feeling she won't wanna call."

"What? No, look, I don't have a lot of time we're gonna start driving again soon. I just wanted to check in." My eyes glanced at the way Rosalie was motioning at me to talk quickly, mouthing a word. "I'll call you tomorrow when we get to California, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Stay safe Gracie." Charlie was upset about something, but I couldn't focus on that.

"I love you, Dad." I frown. "Bye."

"Esme stayed behind to watch over Charlie, but the woman could still be listening to the house." Rosalie explained after I put the phone down. She was crossing over to the food, picking the tray up — sandwiches. I'm relieved. "Think you can handle some turkey?"

"Guess we'll find out." I sigh, walking over to her. "Will Bella be okay?"

"The others have it handled." That wasn't the answer I was looking for. I didn't like the edge in her voice very much either.

"Where are we?" I try instead, looking around while I make room for myself on the couch.

"Seattle." I blink, and she's at the window. "The woman could have followed your scent here, if she discovered it, but she'll have trouble tracing it in the inner city. You won't be leaving the room until this is all over, regardless."

"Rose..." I'm watching her carefully, my voice rumbling with warning. This isn't the same Rosalie I had gotten to know these past few days. She wasn't calm, or peaceful, or sad. She was filled with quiet, burning rage. It was making her less human. I don't want this for her.

She doesn't meet my gaze when she speaks again, reflection ghostly. It has started to rain, the droplets clinging to the cold glass who knows how many stories high. "She's ruined everything."

It's barely above a whisper, but it cuts through the space between us like a knife. I had hoped this wasn't where her rage was aimed. "She's my sister, Rose."

"She's a menace — a danger Edward has chosen to inflict on us all." She snarls, lips curling up to expose those dangers, impossibly perfect teeth. Even in the dismal gloom of the incoming storm it gleams too white. "She's put your life at risk just because she wanted to watch us."

"She was invited."

"You understood. You knew the risk. You didn't push." She whirled on me then, a hurricane of fury. "This is all her fault!"

I had the rest of my argument prepared, but the universe had terrible timing. With a lurch I manage to stop myself from letting the sudden mouthful spew out, but I'm racing quickly with a hand clamped securely over my lips for what I assume to be the bathroom door.

It's not. We're in a fancy suite. I had just enough time to blink and imagine the inevitability of ruining a nice upholstered cream couch when quick as a flash I'm inside a bathroom, and Rosalie's holding my hair back. She sighs. "We need to take you to a hospital."

She rubs my back soothingly as I wretch what feels like nothing over and over again, weak. I try to catch my breath as she cleans me up, too tired to protest, leaning my cheek against the cold edge of the bathtub. I like her a lot better when she's not ready to murder my sister. Even in ugly hotel bathroom lighting, she looks like an angel, pressing a cold damp towel to my face. I hadn't realized I was sweating. I smile lazily at her, or at least attempt to, well aware my eyes were hooded over and all I wanted to do was sleep. "I might be pregnant."

The towel pressed to my forehead freezes in place, and then she's pulling it away to look at me properly, eyebrows furrowed with concern. I couldn't read the emotions flitting through those expressive eyes, they moved too fast from one to the next. And then, after a long pause, Doctor Hale's medical training kicked in.

"When was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?"

"I've skipped a month, it's never been very regular." I answer.

She doesn't like that. "And you never went to an OBGYN to see why?"

"My mom had it the same, I think it runs in the family." I shrug.

"And you...used protection?" She dances around that one, jaw clenching in the pause before she visibly, forcefully unclenched it. I frown.

"Of course, I'm not stupid." I scoff, but I'm too tired for the conviction. "You know it's not a hundred percent right?"

Her expression softens. "How do you feel?"

"Sick." She glowers at my smile, but I can't help myself. "I might not be pregnant, you know. Actually, this isn't even my first scare."

"What happened last time?" She frowned.

"Never made it to the test. Got my period." I shrug. "I didn't get sick that time though, I was just really late. My point is, this could be food poisoning."

"Or..." She trails off, eyes shifting down to my flat stomach. She stared hard enough I was half-convinced she had X-Ray vision. "What will you do if you are?"

"Shouldn't we try surviving vampire armageddon first?" I snort, and she flinches at the V-word. I grimace, starting to pull myself up. "Sorry."

"Let's get you to bed. I bought crackers if you can't keep down the sandwich." She helps me back to my feet a little too quickly, and I'm dizzy again. She frowns, stone hands steady above my elbows. "You're so much more fragile than you look."

I looked like a very breakable twig, so I didn't see how that was possible. "Maybe slow down, hmm? You keep zipping around everywhere, no wonder I'm getting so nauseous."

It's not hard to fall asleep again. Rosalie takes care of me, force-feeding me food, helping me to the bathroom. In between naps, she's somehow procured over-the-counter medicine for nausea and ten pregnancy tests of varying brands. Apparently we were going to be extremely thorough.

It's an ordeal, and my body's a little too weak for me to keep arguing with her. My every coherent thought races back to my sister.

"You're worried too." I notice, wanting nothing more than to reach out to trace the hard ridges of her spine where she sits at the side of the bed, her back to me. We were waiting on the results. She was keeping time, and, I suspected, letting her mind run as rampant as my own with fear.

"For Emmett." She confesses, voice soft. "He'll be on the front line. I don't want him in danger for her. I don't want to lose anyone for that."

"I don't wish that on any of your family either." I frown. "But she's my sister, Rose."

Tense silence rings between us, and then she sighs. "If I wasn't such a brat, things wouldn't be this bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Carlisle stayed in Forks with Esme to watch over your father." Rosalie explained. "He was supposed to go to Phoenix, with everyone else. I was supposed to watch over you and Charlie together, with Esme. But I refused. I didn't want to even risk them knowing you existed. The tracker, he's after Bella, but there's no knowing if the woman's with him, or Laurent. His little parlay could have been a ruse. Even if we get rid of the tracker, we don't know if those two will come back for revenge. No, there's too many factors at play, I wouldn't risk you for it."

"I don't understand how you care so little for my sister's life but so deeply for my own." I try to explain my frustration as eloquently as I can manage, desperate to get through to her. "I understand you wanting to protect your family. No I get that. I get that more than anything right now, and I'm so grateful you're all doing all of this for us. For Charlie. But Rose, you wish her dead in the exact same breath you refuse to even endanger my life."

"I endanger your life on a regular basis. I'm endangering it right now." She reminds me, jaw clenching before she turned away from me, standing up. "Time's up."

My heart sinks.

In the morning, I wake to more bad news. Carlisle had called. Esme had done some scouting, and it appeared 'the woman', as I had come to know her, had gone to the high school in the night and through most of the public buildings in town. She almost absolutely knew that Bella had a twin, if they didn't already know. Rosalie took relief in Alice's visions that we were safe. I learnt that vampires couldn't track scents across water, and while I'd been asleep, Rosalie had briefly taken us across Elliott Bay on a small boat, which she had destroyed. And then we had changed cars again.

"How knocked out was I?" I'm more than a little creeped out.

"I told you that you sleep too much." Her lips quirk with amusement. "You're a very heavy sleeper, and I was very careful. We were across in minutes."

I didn't really want to know how. "And you dressed me?"

I was feeling a little better that morning, with the aid of the nausea pills. I'd had a cup of tea and two slices of toast, and then a pepto-bismol to combat the acid of the tea. Rosalie had seemed very amused by the whole affair, despite the grave news she'd received in the night. I was glad Charlie and I were safe, but my worry and helplessness only grew more for Bella.

"You puked all over yourself in the first car." That explains why I slept so hard. "I didn't look, if that's what you're worried about."

I flush. "How can you not—"

"I do have other senses to depend on. I assure you, I'm quite capable of changing you with my eyes firmly shut."

Thinking about it would be bad. I need to stop. Bigger picture. "Do you think—"

But the cellphone rings, shrill and sharp and grating on the ears. I'd never been more eager to hear such a horrible sound. Rosalie was across the room before I could lift my head to look at it. She pushed a button and held the phone to her ear, but she didn't speak first.

"Em." She breathed, the relief clear in her entire body.

"Yes." She said, turning to look at me. She listened for a long moment.

"Yes. Okay." And then she hangs up, still staring. "They lost the tracker, he got on a plane. We can't track in the air either. The good news is it was a small one in a likely bad state, he'll have to stop for gas regularly so that will slow him down. The bad news is we have no idea which direction he went. Alice sees a room, somewhere with mirrors and a gold stripe across. Does that sound familiar to you?"

I shake my head, frowning in utter confusion. But the fear sparks alive in me, belated as I soak in her words. "So he knows Bella's not with them now. He's after her."

"There's every chance he'll never find her, if Alice and Jasper were as successful as I was." She offered, but I can still hear how little she cares. She's light now — because Emmett is safe. I am safe. Rosalie's world revolved so tightly around her it blew my mind. "Everyone else is regrouping in Forks. The woman's been around, it could be possible he's doing the same with her. She seemed to be trying to sniff out a scent trail from what Carlisle told Emmett."

The next morning, more news. The tracker was going to Phoenix, and Alice had seen a vision of him in my mom's house. Sheer terror took over my entire body for a good five minutes before Rosalie managed to snap me out of it, assuring me my mother was safe all the way in Florida and would remain that way. Edward and Emmett were almost at Seattle. Together, the group of us were going to catch the first flight out of Seattle to Phoenix, pick up my sister, and take us somewhere safe to hide us for a while. We were too scattered now to defend properly, according to Rosalie.

She was clearly very deeply unhappy that Edward was bringing me anywhere near Bella, who she deemed the danger, but I could tell she was anxious to see Emmett again and be with him. I didn't remember that I didn't have any kind of identification on me until we got to the airport, but Edward was waiting for me, his expression grim, my driver's license in his grip. It's an impossibly long flight to Phoenix.

Even when the plane's wheels touched the tarmac, my impatience refused to ebb. I had to constantly remind myself that this was better. The less the Cullens were split up, the safer we were. The safer Bella was. But I felt like I had missed out on everything, and I was only really an added inconvenience they had to deal with. Repeatedly getting sick on our journey did not help things.

They all looked ridiculous, of course. Our row's window shade was down, but there was an excess of direct sunlight in the plane. Rosalie's arms were folded so that her hands were hidden. She wore a silk scarf like a hood over her head, tied fashionably beneath her chin, large sunglasses over her eyes and a big cream overcoat that would have been in Vogue in New York over her long sleeved, high-collared ensemble. Not an inch of skin was visible beyond her shadowed, remarkable face. She was easy to mistake as a celebrity or a supermodel trying to fly incognito. Next to her, Edward and Emmett looked ludicrous in airport-shop hoodies and equally dark sunglasses. Especially Emmett, bulging out of his clothes that were several sizes too small. People stared, because of course they would.

Luck was on our side. It took very little time for the plane to find its assigned gate, open and ready. There were a million possible delays that hadn't gotten in our way. We were even fortunate enough to end up at a gate on the north side of the too-familiar airport, tucked into the late-morning shadow of the larger terminal. That would make it easier for us to move fast. I couldn't help but lead the way. Rosalie kept close, and I had the feeling she had little faith I wouldn't pass out from dehydration again. I honestly didn't blame her.

I knew where the families waited to greet passengers, just up ahead to the right. I was anxious to see Bella there. To race into her arms like I had the last time I almost lost her, the day that had started all of this mess. The car crash. But in the corner of my peripheral vision, Edward staggered to a stop, paralyzed, his face so full of sudden horror I whirled back to him, desperate. Carlisle tried to stop us — we were in public, people were watching. The security officer was eyeing us suspiciously. We had to act normal.

"Huh? No, I've got your phone right here." I announce a little too loudly, as if Edward had asked. I tug at my ear for good measure, as if I was still struggling with a popped ear after our flight. Emmett grabbed Edward under one elbow and started to move him forward. I turned around, sharing a concerned glance with Rosalie.

I understood then what he had seen before any of us. There, in the giant, atrium-like space, Alice and Jasper waited tensely in the shadow of a massive pillar. Bella was nowhere in sight.

I very nearly dropped to my knees amongst the rushing crowds, but Rosalie's hand is there, like a solid cuff above my elbow, keeping me upright. The devastation that fills me is enough to drown out the whole world around me into a buzzing, vague blur.

"Why didn't you go after her?" I heard Edward hiss, but none of us ever got an answer.

"What happened, Alice?" I plead, unaware that the world around me was blurry because of my tears. They didn't spill down my cheeks yet, but they burned my eyes and choked me.

Emmett had slipped in beside me, his hand casual on my shoulder while Rosalie kept a hold of my arm — they were steering me, forcing me to keep up with their too-fast pace. I was almost running. I realized they were also shielding me, as if expecting an attack from any direction. We were headed toward the garage. The glass ceiling above, the one that had forced them all to keep their heads ducked, had given way to simpler architecture. They were at least out of danger from the sun.

To answer my question, Alice shoved a piece of paper into my hand. It was folded into thirds. If it weren't for Rosalie and Emmett, I would have stopped dead still.

My sister's handwriting. An explanation. An apology. A goodbye.

The lie made me snarl, suddenly enraged. She was sacrificing herself for me. Somehow — she believed I was his hostage. That he had gotten me. The goodbye was never intended for me, it was for Edward. I was to be the one she would save. Edward snatched the paper from me, crumpling it and shoving it in his pocket.

"She thought he had me." I explain for Emmett and Rosalie, who are out of the loop. "She's sacrificing herself for me. For a lie. The goodbye was for Edward."

"Will he — ?"

"No. Grace stays in the car." Alice cuts Rosalie's fear off at once. "There's a chance to get there before the end. It's small."

It would have to be enough.

Dr. Sadarangani was a friend of Rosalie's, though he remembered her as Doctor Fischer. She had him paged while they were still bringing a gurney for Bella. It only took minutes for Dr. Sadarangani to get Bella started on her first transfusion. Once she was receiving blood, we exchanged a look. Rosalie was doing this for me, not for my sister.

My sister, who I had watched Edward carry out of the burning smoke of our childhood ballet studio, limp and soaked with her own blood, ripped wood holding her leg straight. My sister, who looked dead. My sister, who was somehow miraculously alive. Because of Rosalie.

Because Doctor Carlisle Cullen had not been there. They hadn't been ready for that. Because Rosalie was the only other person who had studied medicine as diligently. Rosalie, who had treated her head wound and set her leg and kept her stable enough to survive the frantic drive for the hospital. It wasn't the closest one to home. I knew that, and the memory of me arguing - no, screaming - begging for them to take her to the all-too-familiar Baxter Memorial just a five minute drive from my mother's house, from the burning ballet studio - repeated as I watched them take her away from me.

They wouldn't let me stay with her, not until they were done. I never made it to the waiting room, slumping down to the ground in the hallway. Rosalie, my ever-watchful guard dog, remained standing right beside me. She was upset by how bad things had turned, but she had saved Bella. Not for Edward. For me.

As the attending physician, Dr. Sadarangani had made the first call to Charlie. I took over, tearfully regaling the fictional version of what had happened. I promised him that everything was going well and that I was going to be staying at the hospital with Bella, promising to call soon with more information. The panic in his voice assured me that he was no more persuaded than I was.

It didn't take very long before Bella was presumed in stable condition and placed in a recovery room. Alice hadn't even returned from her errands. I was quick to get to my sister's side, a little sickened at the sight of all the tubes going in and out of her. We'd been in the ER often, but I'd never faced this before. I didn't want to ever again. I sought comfort in the steady beeping of her heartbeat in the monitor.

I didn't know how many hours it had been before Rosalie came in to join Edward and I, a paper cup in her hand. I expected coffee, but it was steamed milk instead. My mood soured at the reminder. "Savan introduced me to an OBGYN friend of his that's on duty."

"I'm not leaving her side." My voice is soft, weak with exhaustion. I sip the milk and find it doesn't bother my now sensitive sense of smell. There's a little too much honey in it.

"You should." Edward speaks for the first time, eyes never moving off my sister. "It's important."

"Nothing's more important."

"Some things are." Rosalie is holding a hand out toward me, palm upturned. I frown at her. She doesn't move.

Later, I would call Charlie again. I had waited until I got back in Bella's room, until I'd had enough time for my mind to clear. I'd spent the past two hours walking aimlessly through everywhere I was allowed to in the hospital while Rosalie reluctantly checked on patients as a favor for her friend.

"Hey Dad."

"Gracie? What's happening?"

"She's had a transfusion and an MRI. Doc says things look good so far. They haven't missed any internal injuries, they were worried about that."

"Can I talk to her?"

"They're keeping her sedated for a while." I grimace. "I know, I hate it too. But she'd be in too much pain if she was awake. She needs to heal for a few days."

"Are you sure everything's okay?"

"She's in good hands, Dad." I say instead. "I think she'll be in crutches for a while, so that's scary. Bella's impaired enough on two legs."

He finally chuckled at that. "I'm just so glad you were there."

"Me too." I look up at Edward. "And Doctor Cullen. If it weren't for him..."

"I'll have to thank him again next time he calls. He's not with you?"

"No, he's treating more patients for his friend, the one who works here." I supply, lying with ease.

"But he checks on Bella?"

I look to Edward again, smiling. "Won't let her out of his sight for long."

"So he's staying then."

"Until she's ready to come home."

"I'll admit, that does make me feel a lot better. Will...will Edward be staying, too? I mean, with school and everything..."

"He's already spoke with his teachers, and mine." I said, though apparently Alice was the one who would set everything up. Carlisle was probably already halfway here from Forks in Bella's truck, so my lies would become the truth soon enough. "They're letting us work remotely. We're keeping track of Bella's homework, too, but I'm pretty sure everyone's gonna cut us a break. At least I hope so." I pitch my voice a bit lower. "He's real messed up about this, Dad."

"I'm not sure I understand. He - Edward talked you into going all the way to Phoenix?"

"Yeah. He got real scared when Bella left. He felt responsible. He thought he had to put it right."

"What even happened?" Charlie asked, sounding bewildered. "One minute everything is normal and then Bella is shrieking about liking some boy, and that being a problem, and then she's running out in the middle of the night?"

"It's not like her at all." I agree with him. "I can't believe I wasn't there, I could've tried to talk her out of it maybe. Then none of this would have happened. It's kinda obvious why she blew a gasket, though."

"It is?"

"Dad." I roll my eyes, scoffing. "Mom stuff."

"Yeah." He sighed.

"She fell in love. It scared her. Not a big deal." I glance at the state my sister's in. "I'll admit, this is pretty dramatic even for Bella, but at least everything's sorted out now. As soon as she's got the green light we're coming back home."

"She wants to come back?" He sounds impossibly relieved.

"I told you, all in her head." I promise him.

"Don't you think it's a little intense, kid?"

I snort. "Dad, we're seventeen. Everything's intense."

A pause, and then I grimace. "Actually, speaking of intense..."

"Honey, I don't think I can take anymore today." He stops me short.

I lose my courage immediately. "It's fine, we can talk when I get home. Not really important right now. Um, Doctor Cullen said he'd be happy to arrange a flight if you wanna-"

"I wish I could." Charlie sighed. "There was a real nasty assault case last summer. It's finally going to trial and if I'm not here to testify, it'll only help the defense."

"No, that's important Dad, stay." I assure him. "There's nothing to worry about here, just a lotta waiting. Do your job, put the bad guy away, Doctor Cullen'll make sure Bella gets back home all fixed up."

"I wouldn't be able to stay in my right mind if you weren't there. Did you call your mom yet?"

"She's next." I grimace. "Kinda wanted to talk to the sane parent first. Hysterical second."

"Good luck, kid."

It was a little after midnight when Mom showed up. I was fast asleep in a chair in the corner where I kept vigil over Bella, jumping when I heard something loud thumb. She was hurrying into the room, Bella's RN close beside her. Mom beelined straight for me, meeting me halfway in a hug, tight and clutching and desperate. A soft 'oh' escaped her lips, and I knew she was looking at Bella from around my shoulder where her head ended with our height difference.

Bella lay unmoving, the bruises just starting to bloom across her face. Her head was wrapped in gauze - though Dr. Sadarangani had managed to keep them from shaving her hair - and there were tubes and monitors hooked to her everywhere. Her broken leg was casted from toes to thigh, and elevated on a contoured foam support.

"She's sedated." I stop Mom before she can fully escape my arms, hands outstretched for Bella.

"She'll be out for a bit, but you'll be able to talk to her in a few days." Gloria was a really nice RN, the motherly type. She'd been coddling me all day and I was convinced she'd have me in a bed next to Bella if it were up to her.

"Can I touch her?" Mom's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Sure, you can pat her arm right there if you like, just be gentle."

Mom stood by Bella and rested two fingers lightly against her forearm. Tears started to cascade down her cheeks, and secured an arm around her. In the shadows, I saw Edward move, only just, as if he'd wanted to join me.

"Aw honey, it'll be okay, shh, shh. She's gonna be fine, all right?" Gloria swooped in to help me, like she knew I was too weak to hold my mom's body weight up on my own. "That pretty doctor stitched her up as neat as I've ever seen. You don't need to cry, hon. Why don't you come sit over here and relax? It was a long flight, I bet. You came in from Georgia?"

Mom just kept weeping, so I answered for her. "Florida."

"You must be exhausted. Your daughter's not going anywhere and she's not doing any tricks, either. Why don't you try to get some sleep, hon? You don't wanna go straining the other one either now, she's been swaying on her feet poor thing's wrung out, taking care of all this all on her own."

I hadn't been alone. If I had been, my sister would be in the morgue, not the hospital.

"I'm going to go find Dr. Cullen." Carlisle had arrived two hours ago, and I had no idea how.

Rosalie was waiting for me, outside, staring into thin air. I wondered how long she had been there, when she had stopped making her rounds. I just needed a distraction, and she was my favorite. "So, Doctor Lillian Fischer, huh?"

She'd used my grandmother's maiden name. The look she gave me, haunted and distant, made my little smile fade quickly. "You didn't tell your mother."

"Or my father." I nod. "Later."

"They ought to know, Grace."

"It's not going anywhere." I hug myself. The hospital air conditioning was worse in the hallway. My eyes had turned away from her, to the door to Bella's room. That was what was important now. That was all I cared about, lying too still beyond those doors. "It can wait."