Coldbrook

3

Jayne surfaced slowly, eyes still closed, and she knew that Sean was still in the room with her. She felt his influence; she felt safe.

‘Hey, you awake?’ he asked.

‘Yeah. How’d you know?’

‘You’ve stopped snoring.’

‘I do not snore.’

‘Damn right you do. I thought it was an alarm, or something. Been banging the air conditioning, trying to get it to shut up. Dogs for miles around-’

‘Way to labour a point,’ Jayne said, and opened her eyes. Sean was sitting across from her, leaning back in a chair with his feet on a small desk. The room had belonged to a guy called Jonah who wasn’t here any more, and the others seemed to hold him in high regard. There were books on every surface, and an old photograph of an attractive middle-aged woman on the desk. Sean had been careful not to disturb anything.

‘How long have I been asleep?’

‘Six hours. Since we got in, pretty much.’

‘You slept?’ she asked, but she knew the answer to that.

‘Couldn’t.’ He shrugged.

‘So what’d I miss?’

‘That woman Holly came to visit. That’s all. I think everyone’s just. .’

‘Taking a breath,’ Jayne said.

‘Yeah. So how do you feel?’

‘Bit better.’ That was a lie. She didn’t feel better at all, but she found that she could move more easily than before, straightening her limbs, pushing herself upright so that she was leaning against the wall. Holly had given her some powerful painkillers, and she’d had a restful sleep. The light comas were more exhausting than staying awake through the pain.

‘So this Drake character,’ Sean said. ‘He’s sent two of his people back over. Through. Whatever. Sent them back to fetch the drugs that might help you.’

‘Marc is afraid that it’ll affect his experiments.’

‘And that’s what you are now? An experiment?’

Jayne smiled, and for the first time in days it did not hurt her face. ‘Sean, I owe you everything. Everything. And because I owe you, then I want a lot more people to owe you, too. I’m immune, and if Marc can make anything of that — a cure, a vaccine — you’ll be the one who helped save the world.’

‘Huh!’ Sean shook his head.

‘You’re so sweet,’ she said.

He didn’t look at her, and Jayne knew why. She could see his daughter in his eyes, sometimes even when he was looking right at Jayne herself. She wasn’t a replacement, not even an equal. Maybe they’d talk about it one day.

‘I have to do what I can,’ Jayne said. ‘I’ll take whatever Marc gives me, and give what he needs to take.’

‘Even if it means you’ll die?’ Sean asked.

‘Everyone dies.’