Summary:

There’s a kind of ringing starting up in Shane’s ears. He’s spent the last four days replaying parts of his conversation with Ilya in the hospital over and over in his head — mostly Ilya’s explanation of the plan, and the pit of dread that opened up inside him when Ilya said he’d outed them — and he’s just considering now what Ilya had actually said to him: I told them that I am in love with you.