Closing her eyes, she propped her heavy head against the pointy top of the mop. As a ghost, she didn’t become exhausted the way she’d used to: no aches or pains, no dragging sense like someone had tied barbells to both her ankles. Now it was her psyche that grew weary, to the point where she had to shut her lids and see and do absolutely nothing—like her brain’s circuit board needed to be turned off and cooled down.
And she did sleep then. And dreamed.
Or . . . as probably would be the case today . . . not. Insomnia was still an issue from time to time—
“You’re going to need to broom it first.”
Snapping her head up, she tried to smile for Manny. “I think you’re right.”
“How about you let me take care of this.”
No. Way. She was not in a hurry to go lock herself in the other recovery room and stare at the ceiling. Besides, Manny had to feel as tired as she did.
“How long has it been since you ate last?” she asked him.
“What time is it?”
She glanced at her watch. “One o’clock.”
“In the afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“About twelve hours or so.” He seemed surprised at that.
She reached for the phone on the desk. “I’ll call Fritz.”
“Listen, you don’t have to—”
“You must be about to fall over.”
“Actually, I feel great.”
Wasn’t that just like a man. Unless . . . Well, hell, he did look energized instead of drained.
Whatever. She was still feeding him.
The ordering didn’t take longer than a minute, and Fritz was thrilled by the request. Usually after Last Meal, the butler and his staff retired for a brief rest before the daily cleaning started, but they would much rather have been working.
“Where’s the housekeeping closet?” Manny asked.
“Out in the hall. To your left.”
While she filled the bucket with Lysol and water, he found a broom, came back and took care of business.
While they worked side by side, all she could think about was Vishous. During the rush of treating the Brothers, there had been so much to concentrate on, but now, sweeping the mop’s sloppy dreads back and forth over the tiled floor, it was as if all the angst that had been behind the scenes in her brain broke free and rushed her mental guardrails.
Anyone but her.
She heard him say that over and over again, saw his ashen face and his icy eyes and the way he had closed her out.
Funny . . . the eternity she’d been granted had always seemed like the grandest blessing. Until she pictured going aeons without the man she loved.
Now it was a curse.
Where would she go? She couldn’t very well continue at the compound. Not if they were estranged like this. It was too hard on everyone—
“Here.”