The second time I woke, the fire had burned low, and the room was darker, and the weight of the blankets was heavy on my chest. I did not know how much time had passed. Maybe hours or days, but I knew that Alejandro was still there.He had not moved from the chair.But he had changed. His head was bowed, and his eyes were closed, and for a moment I thought he was asleep. His breathing was slow and steady, his hands were limp in his lap, and the tension in his shoulders had eased, just a little. The firelight cast shadows across his face, and I could see the exhaustion written there, in the lines around his eyes and the set of his jaw.Then his eyes opened, and they found mine immediately. It was like he had been waiting for me to wake, like he had been listening to my breathing and counting my heartbeats and holding himself together by sheer will."You should not be awake," he said. His voice was low and rough, and there was no anger in it,
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