Page 137 of Sixty Meters Under

“See you in the room,” Ryosuke added and gave him a smile.

Lennart nodded and unlocked the door.

Anna and Hugo looked at him when he entered. They were sitting on the edge of the bed, and Lennart was glad to see Hugo kept his distance.

He still felt his stomach squeeze when he remembered Hugo’s confession.

“How are you?”

“These new medicines are way better.” She gave him a smile.

Lennart locked eyes with Hugo as he joined them on the bed. Hugo looked back at him and nodded.

“I have to tell you something, Mom.”

Anna turned to him and tilted her head a bit.

Lennart swallowed hard and felt his throat tighten. “We have discovered what happened to Scarlett.”

“Really?” Anna’s eyes lit up, but as she took in the grim expression of his face her brows furrowed. “You worry me.”

“I don’t want you to worry, but…”

“You’re killing me! Spit it out.”

“You dropped one of your pills in Scarlett’s wine. Scarlett didn’t survive that combination.”

“Oh my God!” Anna’s eyes widened and she pressed her palm to her mouth with a gasp. “No!”

“I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” Lennart put his hand on her back.

“But it’s my fault!” Her eyes watered.

Lennart opened and closed his mouth. Even though he knew she didn’t do it on purpose, such a thing could be avoided if his mother admitted she had severe side effects. In a way it was her fault. But at the same time, Lennart blamed himself for not preventing it.

Anna burst out crying. She covered her eyes with both palms and sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” she repeated in between sobs. She would have to live with this guilt for the rest of her life, and Lennart was sure it would be enough of a punishment for her. But even so, the question that one resident asked still echoed in his mind.

?

An hour passed when Lennart returned to the room. He found Ryosuke sitting in the armchair with a book in his hands.

“How was it?” Ryosuke closed the book and looked up.

Lennart shook his head and looked down. Ryosuke put his book away and stood up. Lennart hugged him and they stood like that until the ringing disrupted their peace.

Lennart realized it was his phone, so he pulled it out of his pocket and answered, “Yeah?”

“The radiation finally dropped!”Liam’s voice rang in his ear.

“What?” Lennart struggled to understand the message that simple sentence carried.

“We can go out!”

“Wait. Hold on a second.” Lennart ran his hand through his hair and paced the room. “Are you sure it’s safe enough?”

“Of course.”

“Wait! Don’t do anything just yet. I’m on my way.”