"Did anyone really doubt you, Morgan?" I asked and felt a shift as I was released from the vice and gently lowered down to a soft surface. My hands st...oked the surface and identified it as a blanket. I inhaled and smelled sandalwood and something else. "Connor?" Right here, Trish. I'm right here." There was relief in his voice that spoke of a great fear being overcome. I blinked a little more in an effort to see. Thinking it hopeless, I closed my eyes and counted to ten, then opened them one. She nodded. "But... I love you, Linnea."I felt a matching warmth inside me, nearly matching what I felt for Stacey. I understood how it felt to be torn. "Do you love him?"Jenny hesitated. "I did. I wouldn't have hesitated to say 'yes' yesterday." Tears welled up in her eyes. "He's a good man; he doesn't deserve this."Sitting up, I gave her a quick kiss. "You don't have to choose, Jenny. I won't be here forever, anyway." After another moment of thought, I added, "What do you think he would do if. ”“I owe you everything, Marcus,” Ayn patted Marcus on the back.Xavier was thankful when Ayn cradled him in his arms and helped him drink some of Marcus’s liquor.“This stuff tastes like gasoline,” he grimaced but took another mouthful.The burn in his blood was doing him good.“Who says it isn’t?” Marcus joked.“We need something more than this for the infection,” Ayn spoke. “I don’t like how this hand looks.”Marcus threw a look behind.“Shit.”“Yes,” Ayn confirmed.“You should draw some blood from. "That's true," added Danielle. "Maybe it's not too late. If Genevieve thinksso, that is."Mandy was beginning to pull herself together, but she still felt distressedand embarrassed. Was there a way out? Is that what Stacey and Danielleseemed to be suggesting? More than anything she wanted to get out of thispredicament she seemed to have landed in."Genevieve, is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Just tell me.What do you want me to do?"Genevieve said nothing for what seemed an age. At.