Chapter 11: Stay

Kristen's POV

"I knew you the moment you turned around, Annie," my mother whispered in my ear. "The chapel. Ten minutes. Come alone."

Nobody had called me that in twenty-eight years.

The name went through me and out the other side, and my hands stayed at my sides.

She drew back with a bright, wet smile, and she patted my cheek.

"God bless you," she said aloud, for the hall.

Then she turned to the waiting crowd and let them take her in.

Wylie's hand was still on the door.

He had been looking at my face the whole time.

"What did she say to you?" he asked.

"That she's grateful."

"That isn't what it looked like."

"It's what she said."

He held my eyes for a long moment, and I held his.

I had never lied to him before, not outright, and I hated the taste of it.

"Go see your sister," I said. "She'll want somebody awake when she opens her eyes."

"Are you coming?"

"In a minute."

He nodded slowly.

He didn't believe me, and he let it go anyway.

I watched him walk toward the unit with his hands pushed into his pockets.

Dustin came down the corridor from the other direction with his mask hanging at his neck.

"You look like a ghost," he said.

"She knew."

"Who knew?"

"My mother. She's known since Tuesday."

His mouth opened, and he shut it again.

"She wants me in the chapel," I said. "Alone, in ten minutes."

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