Jack stood looking at it while Leah carried the box inside. He remembered sleeping in a plastic chair with Lily's blanket across his knees, convinced he had to remain awake because somebody needed to hold the world together. The memory still hurt, but it no longer left him alone with the hurt. He knew the names and faces of people who had carried the weight with him.
When winter returned, the first heavy snow fell during the week before Christmas. Lily was back at school part-time with accommodations and had become the unofficial science-club expert on spacecraft emergencies. Her cardiology appointments continued, and every visit still made Jack nervous, but her progress had been meaningful enough that she was beginning to imagine future plans without starting every sentence with if the doctors let me. She had not forgotten bed twelve. It had become one part of her story rather than the whole story.
One evening the three of them visited St. Catherine's to deliver the last kits of the year and bring small thank-you cards to the staff. Lily insisted on walking through the lobby by herself, carrying Commander Flops beneath one arm. She was proud to be strong enough to make the trip without asking for a wheelchair, though Jack still kept pace beside her. Claire had finished a shift and met them near the main entrance, wearing the gray wool coat Jack remembered from their first encounter.
The hospital was busy, and by the time they said goodbye to the staff, the snow had turned thick enough to blur the streetlights. Lily was tired, so Jack went to bring the truck around while Claire helped her fasten the top button on her coat. The old Ford emerged from the parking garage a few minutes later, its headlights moving through the snow like two patient lanterns.
Jack pulled up beside the bus shelter and lowered the passenger window. Claire stood beneath the same strip of roof where he had first seen her, her ID badge knocking lightly against the buttons of her gray coat. She looked from the familiar dented truck to the familiar face behind the wheel, and her mouth curved into a smile.
"Buses stopped an hour ago," Jack called. "I can drive you."
Claire stepped toward the window. "Nice try," she answered, but there was no suspicion in her voice this time. "I've seen guys like you."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Guys who slept in your ER waiting room three nights straight?"
"No," Claire said, opening the passenger door. "Guys who know how to stay when it matters."
Lily, already settled on the rear bench seat they had fitted with proper restraints, leaned forward between them. "Can you two stop being weird? It's freezing out here."
Claire climbed in, laughing, and pulled the door closed. The cab smelled faintly of motor oil, coffee, and the peppermint candies Lily kept in a sealed tin. Jack waited until everyone was buckled in before easing the truck away from the curb. He drove slowly through the falling snow, just as Lily had promised he would on that first terrible night.