"So whatever happened to Tina? Did she die or something?" I asked, my voice still a little weak as I sat propped up against the hospital pillows.

  Car didn't answer right away. Instead, she calmly scooped up a spoonful of rice from the small bowl resting on the table beside the bed and brought it up to my mouth.

  I barely had time to react before she gently pushed the spoon past my lips.

  "She tried getting me to share you," Car replied casually as I chewed, her tone light but carrying a quiet edge underneath it. "Safe to say you probably won't be seeing her anytime soon."

  She dipped the spoon back into the bowl again, gathering another bite.

  "She's not dead," she added with a small smile as she lifted the spoon again. "Just... busy."

  I swallowed and opened my mouth to protest. "You don't have to feed—"

  Before I could finish, she caught me completely off guard and slipped another spoonful of rice into my mouth.

  I stared at her while chewing, slightly annoyed but mostly helpless.

  Car simply looked pleased with herself.

  "I get to do what I want for my boyfriend," she said firmly, though the corners of her lips curled upward in an amused smile as she held the spoon ready for the next bite.

  "Fair enough," I murmured, parting my lips as she guided the spoon back to my mouth once more. The warm rice slid across my tongue—savory, faintly metallic from the hospital kitchen, but worlds better than the clear fluids they'd been pumping through my IV for days.

  "So when am I finally getting out of here?" I asked, voice still a little rough from disuse.

  "I'm kinda tired of being stuck in this pce." I flexed my right arm experimentally, marveling at the strange, naked feeling of it—no tape tugging at the skin, no cold needle taped crookedly to the inside of my elbow, no thin pstic tubing snaking up toward the bag overhead. Just bare skin, a little pale, a little bruised, but mine again.

  Car gnced up from the tray, the faintest smile touching her eyes. "Doc signed off this morning. You're cleared to go tonight. All healed up."

  A real grin broke across my face then—wide, unguarded, the first one that didn't pull painfully at cracked lips or feel like it cost me something.

  God, I was going to enjoy my own bed: the familiar dip in the middle of the mattress, sheets that actually smelled like undry instead of bleach, the quiet that wasn't interrupted by beeping monitors or rubber-soled footsteps in the hallway at 3 a.m.

  No more stiff rack pretending to be a bed, no more waking up to the sour fluorescent glow overhead. Just home.

  Tonight couldn't come fast enough.

  "So how did Tina take the news?" I asked Car as she carefully set the shallow bowl of steaming rice down on the little rolling table.

  The faint nutty scent of jasmine rice drifted up, mingling with the ever-present antiseptic smell of the hospital room.

  "She was obviously mad," Car said, settling the spoon beside the bowl with a soft clink. "But not mad enough to do anything stupid. She'll be fine. She had a big part in rescuing you, after all—she knows that counts for something."

  I nodded slowly, the ache in my shoulders reminding me how long I'd been ft on my back.

  I reached over toward the pstic cup of ice water sweating on the table's edge, condensation already pooling beneath it. My fingers barely brushed the rim before Car's hand darted out, swift and gentle, intercepting the cup.

  "You don't have to—" I started again, the protest half-hearted at this point.

  She shook her head, dark hair slipping forward over one shoulder, and angled the bent straw toward my lips with practiced ease. "I told you already, Miguel. As your girlfriend, I have the right to do this."

  I let out a low chuckle—rough around the edges from days of little use—and closed my lips around the straw.

  The ice water hit my tongue like a cold shock, crisp and clean, sliding down my throat and spreading a welcome chill through my chest.

  For a second the room felt smaller, warmer, the fluorescent lights less harsh. I swallowed, then took another slow pull, letting the cold settle deep.

  Car watched me with that quiet, stubborn fondness she never quite managed to hide, her thumb brushing a stray drop from the corner of my mouth before I could even register it was there.

  "So what's going on with CJNG now?" I asked Car, the words coming out slow and heavy as another yawn rolled through me. I eased myself back against the thin hospital pillow, the stiff mattress creaking faintly under my weight. "With their leader dead and all."

  She was already shaking her head before I finished, calm as ever, like she'd been waiting for the question. "They've splintered off into different groups—smaller cells, infighting already. They're basically done for. Won't be an issue much longer."

  I let out a long breath I hadn't realized I was holding, the tension in my chest loosening just a fraction. "That's good..." My voice was quieter now, almost to myself. "Ever since this war kicked off, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stressing just as hard as you were."

  Car didn't answer right away. Instead she reached across the narrow gap between us and found my hand, threading her fingers through mine.

  Her grip was firm, warm, grounding—like she was anchoring me to this moment instead of the chaos we'd both lived inside for too long. "None of that matters now, Miguel," she said softly, thumb brushing slow circles over my knuckles.

  "We can live our lives. Peacefully. Finally."

  I nodded, the word peaceful settling over me like cool air after too many nights of heat and adrenaline.

  She leaned in then, closing the distance, and kissed me—slow, deliberate, her lips fitting against mine like they'd been waiting for this exact second to make sense again. No rush, no fear hiding behind it. Just us.

  When she pulled back just enough to speak, her forehead rested against mine, breath warm on my cheek.

  "I love you, Miguel."

  "I love you more Car"

  ——

  Finally caught up on the extra chapters, thanks to all who donated.