Another Cobalt Excerpt
Amber watched me from her own chair, hazel eyes focused on my face.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi.”
“You were sleeping when I came in,” I explained.
“You were sleeping when I woke up.”

My grandfather, far more tired than either of us, was himself still asleep, his chest rising and falling, rising and falling. You never really think about breathing until you’re worried someone is going to stop. I started matching breaths, breathing when he breathed, exhaling when he exhaled. As long as the chest moves, there is still some sort of hope.