Chapter 98

• The doc unhooks her from the machine, keeping her heartbeat monitored loudly, and I hold my breath, inhaling sharply as the beep, beep stops so suddenly the air becomes unbearably silent. I don’t get why he would take that off, but when he yanks another box from under the bed and plugs her into that instead, I exhale, slightly confused. That familiar beep, beep, starts up again in a subtler tone from a different machine, and he moves to the next and the next, replacing everything he can with smaller mobile devices as my brain pulls together amid my frantic fear and gives me a shake.
• He’s not trying to save her or take her off the machines; he’s making her mobile so he can move her.
• He stops, rushes off out of sight as he heads into the elevator once more, abandoning everything he’s left in chaos. A moment later, he comes crashing back ungracefully, pushing another bed. This time it’s on wheels, back to her room. I press my cheek to the cool, smooth wall in front of me, eyes locked on and heart rate hitching as it filters through. He catches me watching him, notices me with a second snap of his head as though he didn’t see me the first time, and makes a weird waving gesture with his hands that translates to nothing. I don’t understand.