“Whoa!” I jerked my hand up to stop him. “Wait, what?” I asked as sick horror shot through me. “You mean, like when the bodies get cut open?”Delight lit his face. “Yes, you’ll be helping with the autopsies. You didn’t know that?”

“He opened the back. “Well, at leas let me carry them to the door.” “Okay.” I walked with him to the doorway and took the bags from him, and then I reached in and took out the gum. I didn’t know what to say, so I handed it to him and his face lit up. A smile I remembered from the photos of him as a little boy appeared on his face. It wasn’t a smile the world ever caught a glimpse of in magazines. “I take it I was good.”

“But how do you stop being afraid?" He asked, and his hands made little jerks up and down."I guess you don't really ever stop," I said, "But you just have to go on. Like Stanly. You just have to get up in the morning and see what happens. Even though it is hard.”

“What?” I whined, and tried to push his hands away.He cursed and gripped me tighter. “Wake up!” he yelled. When I didn’t, he slapped my cheek.My eyes flew open and I sputtered in shock. “What? Just let me go back to sleep!”“I can’t! You’ve lost a lot of blood. If you go to sleep, you’ll die.”

“Yes,” I told him. “I think the guy playing the Pirate King was awesome.”He stopped where he was.“What?” I asked, frowning at the big smile on his face.“I didn’t say I liked the Pirate King,” he told me.“Oh.” I closed my eyes—and there he was. A warm, edgy presence right on the edge of my perception. When I opened my eyes, he was standing right in front of me. “Cool,” I told him. “You’re back.”He kissed me leisurely. When he was finished, I was more than ready to head home. Fast.“You make me laugh,” he told me seriously.”

“Got it all scheduled,” he noted.“Yes,” I returned. “What’s a huge-ass wedding?”“Don’t ask that,” I advised. “Just show up.”His grin turned wicked and I liked it. That was, I liked it until he enquired, “You askin’ me to marry you, Red?”I wasn’t even sipping coffee and, still, I chocked. Then I pushed out, “What?”“I accept.”I shook my head and kept shaking it when I requested clarification, “Let me get this straight. Did you just accept my non-marriage offer?”“Non-marriage?”“I didn’t ask!” My voice was rising. “So you just wanna shack up?” he asked but didn’t wait on my answer. “I’m good with that too.”Gah!“I’m getting my huge-ass wedding,” I declared.“So you are askin’ me to marry you,” he noted. Gah! Gah! Gah!!Sharp as a tack.Someone kill me.”