Chapter 17

Trinity

I woke up to the smell of antiseptic hospital washing powder. I wrinkled my nose, looking up at the IV bag above my head. The EKG attached to my finger itched a little, but everything still hurt. I was in the hospital, but I couldn’t make sense of why or how I had gotten here.

I remembered being cold. So cold that I couldn’t think. I remembered everything being hurt and being so tired, but before that, everything was a dark blur.

Beyond the door, I heard my father’s voice and another voice I hadn’t heard in a long time.

It was Mark. My best friend. He’d moved away so long ago that I barely remembered where, but how long had he been here? Where was Dean, my boyfriend? At work? In class? Had he gone somewhere? Had I been missing so long that he’d moved on? Mark and my father, Richard, looked tired and grave as they started to turn away from the nurse they had been standing with. The nurse went down the hall as they came back inside.

“Dad?” I asked, my voice rough.

His eyes b