June

The male nurse had left twenty minutes ago, and somehow I was still sitting beside Hermes on the bed—close enough to touch, far enough to pretend it didn't break me.

I kept sneaking glances at him, trying to read his expression while he sketched absentmindedly in a notebook the hospital provided.

Why didn't he want me to go?

Did something in him remember?

Did he feel something?

Or was it just Hermes being… Hermes?

I exhaled and stared at my hands. "Hermes— I mean, Mr. Grande, ...