C13 THIRTEEN

This Above All

DEREK

This above all: to thine own self be true

— William Shakespeare, Hamlet

I CLENCHED MY fist, released it and grabbed Rose's hand. She shook from unshed tears, smiling despite her pain as we watched Curtis waste away before our eyes. Sam, Drake and Father Patrick stood on the other side of his bed as Dr. Susie checked his vital signs and kept an IV going.

She looked up