Page 44 of Hollow Child

“I’ll go see what I can scrounge up in the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” I squeezed his hand as he stood. “Make sure you get something to eat for yourself.”

He nodded and left, and when he was gone, I let myself cry. I didn’t want him to know how scared and angry I truly was. I was utterly enraged that I had survived this long only to be bitten right before my baby was born. How unfair and cruel the world could be to take me away from my family the very moment that I create my own.

I wanted to cry and scream and burn the house down around me. But what I told Max had been true. I didn’t have enough time. No time to cry or scream or wallow. Very, very soon, I would be gone, but the baby and Max would be here. I had to help them as much as I could before I left.

Ripley had been sleeping on the floor, and she nuzzled up to me when she heard me crying. I cuddled her a moment, because time with her was never wasted, but then I had to get to work.

I grabbed theWhat to Expectbook off the nightstand, along with a pencil. There were a few blank pages in the back, where the previous owner of the book, Erin Tremblay, had made lists of possible names. The first one included Skyler, Piper, Mason, and Ryder, and the second one was Isolde, Avalyn, and Riley.

Beneath that, I wrote my own list of names. I hadpicked one for a boy and one for a girl, with Max’s input, of course. But I didn’t want him to change it to Stella or Stellan if I died. I didn’t want grief or guilt to cause him to act differently than we planned.

I suddenly thought of Avalyn’s room at the lakehouse and her crayon drawings on the wall, or the pictographs drawn by ancient people on the sand dunes. All of us just making little marks letting the world know that we were here, that we had lived and felt and thought.

I hadn’t written much when Max returned carrying buttered toast for me, and Eden was following a step behind.

Jovie did most of my care, but when she wasn’t able to, her assistant Eden Tambor helped out. Eden was a tall woman with olive skin and her black hair was cut in a short blunt bob with bangs.

When we met last night, Eden saw Ripley, and she told me about how she had worked as an animal wrangler B.Z. I asked her how she ended up as a nursing assistant here, and Eden had explained that she was a transgender woman.

After she’d first arrived in Emberwood, she had gone to Jovie because she needed certain treatment so she could live comfortably in her body. Over time, Eden had repaid Jovie for her help by working at the clinic, and she learned more and more about how to help Jovie’s patients.

In my limited experience with her, she seemed quite knowledgeable, and her dark eyes were kind and clever.

“I don’t mean to bother you,” Eden said. “But there are a couple of your friends at the door. Samara and Castor. They stopped by because they know you’ve been sick. I can send them away if you want, or they can come in for a visit, if you’re feeling up to it.”

“I would like to say goodbye to them,” I said. I hadn’t gotten to know them all that well over the short time we’d travelled together, but they were still among the few friends I had in this world.

“I’ll bring them in but be sure to hide the chain and don’t mention anything about being infected,” Eden said, because Jovie had trusted her with my secret so she could help with my treatment. “You’re not supposed to be inside the walls of the city if you were.”

“I won’t say a thing,” I assured her. I didn’t want to get kicked out, and I really didn’t want to talk about zombies or dying anyway.

Eden went to fetch them, and Max set down my toast on the end table before hurriedly hiding my ankle chain underneath the blanket so no one could see it.

He sat down on the edge beside me, and Samara and Castor came in. They both looked much better than they had the last time I had seen them. Rest and security did wonders for people.

“Hey.” I smiled up at them. “It’s so nice of you to visit me. How are you doing? Are you getting settled in okay?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s been really nice so far,” Samara said. “How are you and the baby doing?”

“Oh we are…” I laughed so I wouldn’t cry. “We’re better now that we’re here.”

“It looks like you’re getting the color back in your cheeks,” Samara commented, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that was because I had a fever and my face was burning up.

“So, Max,” Castor said, sounding perplexed. “Why is your sister sitting outside and not in here with you?”

“She likes the fresh air,” Max answered flatly.

“Did you hear that your house is right down theroad from ours?” Samara asked brightly, likely trying to cheer me up. “Once you’re better and in your new place, we’ll practically be neighbors. I’ll even be able to help you babysit. I’ve always been really good with kids.”

“That’s so kind of you to offer.” I looked to Max because I knew he’d be the one who needed the extra help when the baby was here and I wasn’t. “Max and I will certainly be happy to call on you.”

“Good.” Samara smiled. “Emberwood really is a nice little town, and the houses for refugees are so cute.”

“Refugees?” I asked.

“That’s what Mayor Vaughn calls us,” Castor clarified. “Refugees of the zombie apocalypse.”

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