Shh, part 13

The hallway wasn't long enough to break into a full run and Lenn barely registered the pictures of strangers that lined both walls as he went by. Guided by the only light coming out of one of the three doorways at the end of the hall, he felt like the captain of a long lost ship finally guided to safety by a lighthouse. Inside, Liv lay there, face reflecting the ruddy light of the single candle on the nightstand.

Seeing her was like hitting pause on his entire life. Everything froze, crystallized in that moment where he saw nothing else, like a sunset so perfectly beautiful that it punches you in the chest. Her eyes opened as if waiting for him. “Hey, baby.”

Lenn closed the door behind him and put the cat down, who stretched and yawned and then curled up to go back to sleep. He shrugged out his backpack and approached the bed with a smile. “Hey, little mouse. How're you feeling?”

“Better now that you're--” Liv's face contorted as a fit of coughing ripped through her, violently shaking her entire body.