Chapter 19 · Lea Remembers

Lea's apartment smelled like antiseptic and old coffee. Mark sat on the edge of her kitchen chair, blood still wet on his sleeve, and watched her pull a plastic bin from under the sink.

"You're bleeding on my floor," she said.

He glanced down. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just sit still." She snapped on gloves and set the bin on the counter. Scissors, gauze, a bottle of saline. Her hands moved fast, the way they used to in the field. She cut his sleeve open without asking.

Mark watched her face. She was focused, calm. Not the woman who'd told him three loops ago to never come back. Not the one who'd slammed the door in his face two resets before that.

"Why'd you let me in this time?" he asked.

Lea didn't look up. "Because you said my daughter's middle name is Rose. I never told you that."

His chest tightened. "I know."

"So either you're stalking me, or something's really wrong." She poured saline over the gash. It stung like hell. "And you don't look like you've got the energy to stalk anyone."

Mark exhaled through his teeth. "It's the second thing."

"Yeah.