Hisham Tawfiq, Amir Arison and Megan Boone attend The Kite Runner Opening Night After Party at Sardi's in New York, NY on July 21, 2022. (Photo by Efren Landaos/Sipa USA)
Each night Red checks the locks on the doors (Dembe does that, too, but better to be safe than sorry), strips his armor, pours himself a glass (or five, depends on the day he's had), listens to music, goes to bed.
He burns.
Darkness embraces him like an old friend when he wakes up gasping and shaking, the phantom feeling of burning spreading through his long-numb back, tears making his vision blurry.
He gets up and pours himself another glass and changes the topic when Dembe asks him how was his sleep in the morning (with time, Dembe stops asking).
Each night Liz checks the locks on the doors (her dad taught her that it's better to be safe than sorry and she always took Sam's lessons to heart), pours herself a glass of wine, puts some sitcom or silly romcom on and falls asleep halfway through.
She cries.
Darkness winks at her from the corners of the room when she wakes up, gasping and shaking, the images of her dad gasping for breath during an especially bad attack, herself gasping for breath when phantom Tom's fingers close around her neck, Ressler bleeding out in a glass cage, Red stumbling after real Tom pulls the trigger and for one terrifying moment Liz thinks that his fatal bullet found its target all blending into one seemingly endless film, the credits of which start to roll only when she gets up.
She stares at her phone for a long time, debating whether she should call number 1 (who's long since moved up from number 7) on her speed dial and eventually deciding against it, and lies that she's just got a bit of a headache when a concerned Aram asks her if she's alright in the morning.
Two gunshots and one confession later, their routine changes.
They check the locks together – twice – discuss their plans for the next day and go to bed together, curling protectively around each other.
Red burns. Liz cries.
They hold each other and, with darkness surrounding them at all sides, make a promise to never let go.