Page 127 of Ghost Ribbon

“I think so, yeah.”

“When will you be discharged?”

“Shouldn’t be too long,” Rei said, shifting slightly in the bed. “Just need some therapy. I should be able to talk normally after a while.”

I was relieved, because when I first found out he was hurt, I nearly fainted.

But now, sitting here, watching Rei smile, I was so happy he was recovering.

“I’m glad,” I said softly, and meant it with every piece of my struggling heart.

Rei smiled. Then his expression shifted. He looked at me the way he sometimes did when he was reading past the surface of things.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Of course I am.”

“You know,” he sighed, “I don’t want to force you to share things you don’t want. But I am here if you need anything, Marco.”

He paused. “And I mean anything,” he repeated. “You can tell me.”

I forced another smile.

It was harder this time. The muscles in my face were tired. “I know, don’t worry.”

I leaned down and I kissed the top of his head.

He smiled and I wished that he would keep that smile even after I’m gone. That he would always be happy. That the world would be kind to him in all the ways it had not been kind to me.

I wished him every good thing.

Chapter 30 - Marco

On the way home, Alexei was different.

He didn’t speak to me.

Barely at all. I heard him mutter something under his breath in Russian but I didn’t understand most of it.

I wanted to ask but I didn’t, because asking Alexei what was wrong when he was in this kind of mood was like trying to open a locked door by talking to it.

When we got home, he went straight to the balcony.

I stood in the living room for a moment, uncertain, then I moved toward the balcony slowly.

He was smoking, but he extinguished the cigarette the instant I entered the space.

“Don’t come around me when I’m smoking,” he said, not turning around. “It’s not good for you.”

I pressed my lips together slowly.

He was protecting me from secondhand smoke while simultaneously refusing to look at me.

That was very Alexei. “Did I do something to make you mad?” I asked quietly. “You’ve been quiet.”

He shifted. He seemed uncomfortable. “You didn’t. I’m just—”

I watched him struggle with the words. Alexei was spectacularly bad at speaking his emotions out loud.