Twenty minutes later, there’s a second hospital bed set up beside Leon’s, monitors and IV stand arranged beside it. Leon sleeps on, the stuffed T-rex still clutched against his side.
I change into the hospital gown a nurse left for me, and Mina looks away, though not before I catch the flush creeping up her neck.
I hesitate beside the bed. “You should take the bed. I’ll sleep in the chair.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She shakes her head. “You’re the one having surgery tomorrow.”
“Mina—”
“I’ll be fine. It’s a big chair.” She pulls her legs up beneath her, demonstrating. “See? Comfortable.”
It’s not comfortable enough to spend all night in, but I know that stubborn set to her jaw. She won’t be moved.
“You should get some sleep,” I tell her, climbing into the bed. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
“I know. I just…” She trails off, looking at Leon. “I don’t want to leave him.”
“You’re not leaving him. You’re right here.”
She nods, but she doesn’t close her eyes.
“Mina. Sleep.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder.”
A faint huff of breath that might almost be a laugh. She shifts in the chair and finally lets her eyes drift closed.
I watch her for a moment. Then I look at Leon, small and yellow in the big white bed.
My son. My family. Both of them, here with me.
“Cristiano?” Her voice is soft in the dim room.
“Mm?”
“Are you scared? About the surgery?”
You should be,my father’s voice hisses.You’re about to let someone cut you open. You’ll be helpless. Vulnerable. Everything you’ve worked for could be taken from you while you’re lying unconscious on a table.
“I’m not scared for me.”
“How are you not scared?” She sounds genuinely baffled. “They’re going to cut out a piece of your liver. That’s not nothing.”
“It’s not,” I agree. “But I’ve survived worse.”
“That’s not comforting.”
I turn my head to look at her, a shadow curled in the chair, her face pale in the dim light. “I’m not going to die tomorrow, Mina. I’m not going to leave Leon without a father. I’m not going to leave you alone.”
She’s quiet for a moment. Then, “I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“I’ve been scared for so long. Since Leon got sick. Since before that, really.” She trails off, but I know what she was going to say. Since I came back to Malus and she realized her lies were about to unravel.
“You don’t have to be scared anymore,” I say. “Not of me. Not of anything. I’m going to take care of you. Both of you.”