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After seeing his reaction to his father’s message, Ashleigh decided it would be best for him to rest. She gave Clara access to the files from the drive and spoke with Fiona about all they had seen and heard.

Fiona gave a sad smile and nodded but said nothing else before she excused herself.

Ashleigh checked in with Axel about the convoy. All the arrangements had been made, and Galen had approved the additional soldiers. All that was left was for them to go in the morning.

There was one slight change that Axel was somewhat bothered by.

“What do you mean?” Ashleigh asked. “Why does she need to be scanned in twenty-four hours? Why can’t they do it in the morning before you leave?”

After witnessing Alice’s struggle with the computer, Axel called the doctor. They had her go back and do another scan. He told them she would need to come back in twenty-four hours in order to properly compare her brain activity to give them an accurate understanding of what was happening.

“It’s the amount of time they need to see a proper comparison,” Axel sighed.

“But what’s happening to her? She seemed fine this afternoon when she helped me with the drive.”

Axel looked back at the bed where Alice was taking a nap. He took a deep breath and turned back to his sister.

“The scans show that she has lesions in her brain,” he said. “They are… significant. The doctor thought that Bell’s blood could help heal some of it. But so far, they haven’t seen any changes. At least… not positive ones.”

Axel closed his eyes, trying to calm his thoughts.

“They said that she could start to forget things. Small things, big things,” he sighed. “They have never seen someone with so much exposure to Bitter Night, so they have no way of knowing for sure what will happen to her.”

“Lesions… what…” Ashleigh didn’t understand. She looked over at Alice.

She seemed fine.

Every step of the way through the lab, she was fine. She led them to the children; she sealed off most of the guards and fought off Holden. Even today, she had solved a puzzle that they had spent months trying to solve.

“What happened?” she asked. “Why do they suddenly need another scan? This morning the plan was for her to go with you and Bell, so what changed?”

Axel swallowed.

“This afternoon, after she helped you with whatever problem you needed her help with, she lost something. Her memory got shaky. By the time we went for the new scan, her memory had come back, but the doctor was concerned. So, we agreed that she should stay for another day or two.

“Galen has already promised to make sure she has an escort back to Winter as soon as the doctor clears her to go.”

Ashleigh let out a sigh of disbelief. How could so much have happened in such a short time? When she left the room, Alice seemed perfectly fine.

“Did I push her too hard?” Ashleigh asked. “I didn’t mean to, Axel. I didn’t know.”

“Of course not,” Axel shook his head, “there’s no reason you should have known, Ash. This isn’t your fault. She was glad to have been able to help you. Trust me. This is just… something that is going to happen. Right now, we don’t have a solution.”

Ashleigh felt a painful tug in her heart. She couldn’t imagine what her brother was feeling, what Alice was feeling.

“I’ll watch out for her,” Ashleigh said. “While you can’t, I will.”

Axel gave her a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Ash. It means a lot,” he whispered.

***

After a night of sleep and a long time resting in Ashleigh’s arms, Caleb could finally take a breath and absorb his father’s message.

He reassured her that he was fine. He returned to his duties, helping Galen to ensure that convoy was properly secure and ready to go.

Caleb said his farewells and watched, waiting to offer his support as Galen said goodbye to his family.

Galen kissed Ren’s forehead. He smiled and touched his cheek.

“I will see you soon, little man,” he whispered. “Take care of your mom. Make sure she smiles. No fussing, ok?”

“That seems like a pretty unreasonable request of a baby,” Bell laughed.

“He’s not just any baby,” Galen smiled. “He’s ours, and that means at least half of him lives to see you smile.”

Bell smiled at Galen as a warmth spread from her chest.

“Just like that,” Galen whispered, looking at her with a soft expression.

Bell swallowed and licked her lips.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you,” he replied.

Bell leaned forward, careful of Ren in Galen’s arms. They shared a sweet and tender kiss, each feeling deeply the longing for the other.

Galen hugged Ren once more and then handed him to Bell.

They turned away, neither wanting to see the other go.

“It’s not forever,” Caleb said quietly as he watched Bell get into the car.

“Even a day will feel like forever,” Galen replied sadly.

“I understand,” Caleb said. “I can’t know your pain, but I understand that you feel it. We will do all that we can to win this war quickly. And bring your family home.”

Galen nodded.

“We will bring all these families home.”

Caleb nodded and put his arm around Galen’s shoulder.

A few feet away, Ashleigh hugged her brother and said goodbye before she returned to Caleb’s side.

Alice looked up into Axel’s eyes. She wore a soft smile.

“I’ll see you soon, sweet boy,” she said.

Axel sighed and pulled her tightly to his chest.

“Why am I always having to say goodbye to you?” he whispered.

Alice smiled.

“At least I know someone is missing me,” she replied softly.

Axel lifted her chin toward him, lowering his face to hover just about hers. His lips brushed hers as he spoke.

“Every second of every day.”

Alice moved to her toes, closing the small distance between their mouths, and kissed him hard. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her into his arms.

They held each other until their lungs burned with need.

“I love you,” she whispered through her desperate breaths after they pulled apart.

“I love you,” he replied, giving her another quick kiss before setting her down. “If I don’t go now, I won’t be able to.”

He touched her cheek, giving her a loving smile.

“A day, two at the most,” he said.

“Two at the most,” she smiled. “With three calls each day.”

Axel chuckled and nodded before lowering his head as he turned and got into the car.