The woman gasped and nearly dropped him.

The young man’s chest rose sharply, like air had been forced back into him.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “You’re alive.”

But the boy didn’t smile.

He stared at the man’s face, breathing fast now, his small hand still pressed to his chest.

The young man blinked once.

Then his eyes locked on the boy.

Fear moved across his face.

“You.”

The woman froze.

“What?”

The boy slowly pulled his hand away.

“I told you to keep it secret,” he whispered.

The young man grabbed the woman’s wrist weakly.

“Don’t trust him.”

Her tears stopped.

She looked between them.

The boy’s eyes filled with hurt.

“I saved you.”

The man tried to sit up, shaking.

“No,” he whispered. “You brought me back before.”

The woman’s face went pale.

“Before?”

The boy looked down at the sidewalk.

For the first time, he sounded like a child.

“I didn’t know where else to put the breath.”

The man’s lips trembled.

Then he looked at the woman and said the words that made her whole body go cold.

“He’s not saving people.”

A taxi horn blared in the distance.

The boy stood slowly.

The young man whispered,

“He’s collecting them.”