the bed.
Liberty stood to get his laptop, but Becky beat her to it.
“Here you go, Mitch.” Becky set the computer on a pillow next to him.
When the fit subsided, Mitch opened his eyes again, letting Becky prop another pillow behind him so he could work the laptop. He looked at Liberty, pressing a few buttons. “There’s something I wanted to show you and Nathaniel, but since he’s not here, I’ll show it to you.”
Liberty watched him, lost. Nathaniel might have learned the basics with the computer, but she’d never had to.
Becky excused herself, “I’ll be in the kennel if you need me.”
Liberty gave her a quick wave as she left. She released a breath, leaning around to see what Mitch had on the screen. “Okay, what am I looking at?”
“I’ve been working on a little slideshow. It’d have gotten done sooner, but I’ve not had a lot of good days as of late.” He shrugged. “Guess today’s as good as any.”
She patted his leg. “Hey, no problem, seeing how I didn’t know you were doing it anyway. Actually, I don’t think I know what a slideshow even is.”
“This.” He tapped a couple more buttons and a picture appeared of Ellie and Liberty in the canning cellar, a very young Sage playing on the floor at their feet. He turned the laptop a little so Liberty could see better.
“Holy cow, Mitch. I’d forgotten these.” Liberty had some pictures of Sage, thanks to Ellie, but she’d never thought to ask Mitch to look through theirs. There were so many.
How could she have forgotten? The tears flowed freely, her eyes glued to the screen, afraid to blink. She watched and pointed, laughed at a few. Before it was over, Mitch started to talk again.
“Ellie and I, we owe you and Nathaniel so much.”
Liberty looked up from the slideshow, so he pressed a button to pause it.
“Us? We are the ones who are grateful to you for letting us stay here. And allowing us to be part of your lives.” She meant it.
They’d kept to themselves for the most part. She and Nathaniel were self-sufficient in a lot of ways. But, other than Gabriel, Katie, Adrian, and Becky, for almost fourteen years, the Montgomery’s had been all they had.
“I know you appreciate it, but it was never even. We benefited far more than you.”
Liberty raised her eyebrows, “How so? You mean after the accident?”
They’d first met during a snowstorm. She and Nathaniel had been hunkered down in a small cave not too far from Proem, when Mitch and Ellie’s truck lost control on the dirt road.
“You sheltered and gave us life. Gave Kevin life.”
Sheltered, yes. It was a moment she’d never forget. Unconscious and slumped together, their white auras shined out through the windshield like two fallen stars. Or angels. She’d convinced Nathaniel to bring them inside their cave.
But Kevin hadn’t been with them that night. She wondered if the disease had leaked into Mitch’s brain, had burned his memories away like acid.
“Honey, I think you’re confused. Kevin stayed on campus that year. Remember? Only you and Ellie were in the truck.”
He shook his head. He tried to keep a cough inside and sounded like a cat getting ready to hack up a fur ball.
“No, no.” She snagged a tissue off his bedside table and gave it to him. “Here. You let it out. It’s not good to keep stuff inside.”
He did, and after a sip of water he started to talk again. “It’s complicated. Much rather you and Nathaniel are together when it comes time for me to tell it.”
She reminded herself the nurse said he might not make a lot of sense in the last days, so she tried not to let the confusion show on her face.
“That’s fine with me. You rest up and Nathaniel and I will come visit together. Real soon, okay?” Liberty smiled and gave him a gentle hug.
Mitch nodded. “You watch the rest before you go.” He pressed another button.
She feigned giddiness, clapping her hands together. “Yes, I want to see them all. I can’t wait for Nathaniel to see it, too.”
Images passed by. Ellie teaching Liberty to play pool. The two of them sitting together as they shucked corn. Sage wearing a fake mustache. Then one made Liberty pause.
“Hold up, Mitch. Can you go back to the last one?”
The pictures had begun to repeat, anyway. Mitch brought back the final picture of the slideshow.
“Yeah, that’s it. Pause it?”
He did. “What is it?”
Sage looked back from the