Chapter 39: Under The Flashing Lights

It's not until a little while later, when they've told me I'm being discharged and I'm changing back into my normal clothes behind a curtain, that I feel the need to say anything. Maybe because, for the moment anyway, I can't see his face. I can hear him pacing - he hasn't stopped fidgeting since the ultrasound.

My clothes are stiff from the ocean. I pull my dress back down my body, exhaling. "What happens now?"

On the other side of the curtain, the pacing stops. He's silent for so long that for a brief, terrifying moment, I'm afraid he's walked right out of the room without my noticing.

Suddenly, the curtain is pushed aside. I'm fully dressed, but I still jump. Rafe looks me up and down once, his expression still blank, and I can't decide if he's waiting for me to speak.

"We go home," he says finally, and I remember that I asked him a question. "Now, we go home."

Rafe slides his arm around my waist, placing his hand in the position it seems to like most, nestled against the small