"Have we not exchanged hearts?"
"Oh, I see. Yes; but the strength only went with mine. The weakness I retained. It would not have been fair otherwise."
She sat up and pushed back her hair. He seated himself near her and drew her in his arm. He held her close.
"Some things," said he, "we can not give, much as we would like. Some burdens we must carry ourselves."
"Which I take it, is a very wise provision," she added.
There was silence after that. It was not easy for either of them to talk, each being constrained with his own crowded thoughts. Chester listened to the rhythmic beat of the machinery, and wondered vaguely how long it would continue thus, and what would happen if it had to stop.
"Chester," said Lucy at last, "what if I should die?" She clung to him as she said it.
"But, my dear, you're not going to die. You're going to get completely well again—You're going to stay with me, you know."
"That's the worst, when I think of it—the thought of separating from you—O Chester, I can't do that—All my life I've waited and watched for you, and now to leave you, to lose you again—and we've been together such a short time! I can't bear to think of it." The tears welled in her eyes.