“As if you didn’t know it.” He kisses me again. Then, with seeming reluctance, he straightens. “The others will probably be coming in another minute,” he says. “The nurse started calling around as soon as she saw you were up.”
I shift over on the bed to make room, with my back up against the pillows, and he sits facing me, with a layer of covers separating his leg from mine.
“What did Orson say about how the surgery went?” I ask.
Linus rubs his jaw, and I notice he hasn’t shaved lately.
“He was pretty psyched,” Linus says. “He said he’d never seen anything like it. He showed us how the nanobots were moving around super fast, going back and forth between your brain and Thea’s. He tried to override them once, but they just kept going. Then Thea started to show more brain activity, so Orson said whatever you were doing was working.”
“Arself was running all of it,” I say.
“Were you aware of that?” he asks.
“It’s more like I was meeting Thea again in my own mind,” I say. “She made me feel a little better about Larry and Berg and everything.”
“You talked to her?”
“It’s more that I just understood her,” I say. “It was nice.”
He smiles. “Nice?”
I listen to the back of my mind, wondering if I’ll hear a voice back there, either Thea’s or Arself’s, but I don’t. Instead, all I sense is calmness. A peaceful sureness or confidence. I’ve never had a serene mind before, actually. It makes me feel powerful and I have no doubt Arself is still with me, even though she’s gone quiet now. I wonder if I can draw on her abilities for anything I want to do. I’m sort of excited to find out. “I feel lighter, somehow,” I say.
“I’m glad,” he says.
Near the window, Tom sits up in his chair. He presses his fist to his eye and then shakes his head vigorously. “Hey,” he says. “You’re up.”
“Yes,” I say.
Tom stretches and gets out of his chair. He looks in on the baby in the bassinet, and then he moves over to Thea. “How’s it going?” he asks her softly, taking her hand.
Her eyes remain closed, but they twitch with movement.
“Did you see that?” Tom asks. “She squeezed my hand. Thea? Can you hear me?” He points toward the lamp. “Get the light there,” he adds.
As Linus leans over and turns it on, I blink against the brightness. Thea lets out a moan. Then she squints, and slowly, groggily opens her eyes.
“Hey, girl,” Tom says. “How’s it going?”
Thea lifts a hand to her mouth and yawns. “Okay. Where’s the baby?”
“She’s here,” Tom says. “She’s asleep in the bassinet. Want to see her?”
“No, let her sleep,” Thea says. She turns in my direction and takes in Linus and me. “Slumber party?” she says.
A thrill knocks through me, and I grin at her. “Sort of. How are you feeling?”
“Thirsty,” she says. “I had the strangest dream.”
“I bet,” I say.
With a bustle at the door, Madeline and Diego hurry in, followed by my mother and Dubbs. Burnham, Orson, Tito, and the nurse crowd in last. The only one missing is the dog, and not for long. So many hugs go around. Linus shifts off the bed to let my mom get her arms around me. Diego moves in close beside Madeline to hover over Thea, and Tom’s openly weeping. When baby Vali wakes up and starts crying, Madeline tucks her gently over her shoulder and coos at her.
“There, there, little Vali,” Madeline says. “Everything’s okay now. See? Your mother’s back.”
As the baby quiets, Burnham closes the window so the rushing noise of the rain sounds far away, and then he settles back against the windowsill. He isn’t coughing as much anymore, I notice with relief. Tito turns on another light. Dressed in a bathrobe with matching slippers, Dubbs crawls up on the end of my bed.
“I made you a card,” Dubbs says, pointing to a folded piece of paper on my bedside table. “Did you see?”
“This?” I ask, lifting it. A dog is drawn on the cover in crayon, but the inside is blank.
“Smell it,” she says.
I do. It smells like lemon, and I know she’s written me a secret message. “Thanks,” I say.
“I made one for Thea, too,” Dubbs says, pointing.
Thea sits up a bit higher and reaches for her own card. She lifts it to her nose. “Thanks, Dubbs,” she says.
“How about it, Orson,” Madeline says. “What’s the prognosis?”
Orson crosses his arms and tilts back on his feet. “Good,” he says. “Thea’s latest scans show miraculous gains. She’s as healed as any patient I’ve ever seen. I’d like to follow up, of course, with both of them, but as far as I can tell at this moment, Thea’s out of the woods. And your brain, Rosie.” He shakes his head in awe. “You’re an inspiration. Absolutely. I would love to talk to you about what you did in there.”
I laugh. “Maybe someday,” I say. Like never.
“We’ll let you all catch up. Let us know if you need anything,” Orson says, and he and the nurse step out.
The baby hiccups. We all laugh.
Smiling, I look around the room and think of all we’ve been through. Tito has taken a spot next to Burnham, and they’re talking easily. Ma has her hands on Dubbs’s shoulders while Dubbs rattles on about the merits of getting a dog. Diego is setting a chair for Madeline so she can be closer to Thea, and Tom is openly adoring his baby again. I’ve never felt so lucky. When I glance over to where Linus leans against the wall, I find him smiling at me, his gaze warm and real. A spark of private happiness shoots between us, and for the first time in ages, the days ahead look sweet.
Another flash of lightning brightens the window, and I hold my breath for the thunder.