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Cassian knows what an evacuation is, what it means. This isn’t the first time that he has ever had to evacuate a building, whether it be from a threat or from a natural disaster. This isn’t even the first time he has had to evacuate from this building in particular, and this general area. He has done this song and dance before, understands that he won’t be back for some time, knows how to pack, what’s important, what matters.
This is just the first time that he’s pretty sure that the building he’s evacuating will no longer be standing in an hour, let alone when he’s finally allowed back in. Everything he takes now, it’s all he’ll have left. There’s no coming back, no second chances. The choices he makes now decide everything.
For normal places, for normal areas, like over in town, the firefighters will try to stop the spread, to contain it, to backburn the area around it. They set themselves with firebreaks, try to stop the spread into what is considered more important… and Cassian won’t argue that homes and business aren’t important, particularly when each building that catches, it feeds the fire, and things like power lines and fuel tanks only make it worse.
He just wishes that his own building, his own little home, actually mattered in some aspect.
There’s no chance of saving it, though. He’s deep in the woods, tucked away, down a dirt road that he’s surprised the firefighters even noticed, and his building is of no importance. They’ll let it burn up, and they should. It was just a building.
What’s inside, what has to stay behind? The records are all online. The equipment is expensive, but it can be replaced, and that’s what insurance is for. Everything that’s physical that holds any sort of sentimental value, like his Diploma, and the pictures, that’s all already tucked into a bag that’s shoved onto the dashboard of his truck. Everything else can be replaced.
The problem is the animals.
He can leave behind the building, but he can’t leave behind the animals.
Some of them are rehabilitations, animals that had been found out in the national forest and were injured, just needing a safe place to sleep and some food until they were strong enough to return home. Others were abandoned, or their mothers killed, and they needed to grow before they could follow their survival instinct. The worst are the ones with him for life, that are permanently injured, that have been too taken with humans to leave, that rely on him for everything.
Others might just see them as animals, as creatures that didn’t stand a chance if they lived out in the forest that was now on fire, but to Cassian, they were his family, his charges. They were in his care, his responsibility, and leaving them behind meant he was essentially killing them. They didn’t stand a chance out there on a good day.
And today was not a good day, not with a twenty thousand acre fire that was only spreading.
How was he supposed to just pick and choose? How was he supposed to decide who lived and who died? Did he take all of the smaller ones, knowing he could save more? Did he take the younger ones that had more life ahead of them? Did he take the oldest and dearest friends?
There was another bark, and Cassian turned to look at his dog, Kay, ready to hush him again. He was trying to do the math in his head, trying to figure it out. He had the entire back of his truck, had removed all of his medical equipment, and he had a horse trailer. If he stacked the cages, and moved some into others, he could save… if he’s lucky, half, a little over half.
“Be quiet, Kay,” he snapped, and he looked up to see that there was someone at the door, a group of someones. “Oh, what now.”
Going to it, he pulled the door open to see that the Fire Chief was there, with a few firefighters, all looking worse for wear, standing behind him. “Time to go, Doc.”
“No, I know,” he fumbles out, and Cassian looks behind him at the stack of cages, and he can’t… he can’t pick who to save. “I don’t… There’s not enough room to take them all.”
The Fire Chief looks apologetic, and then looks back down the road from where they came from. “Look, Doc, you got maybe an hour before that road is in flames… and maybe thirty minutes after that before this area is gone too, and honestly, I’m being generous. You gotta make a choice, Doc. We’re not leaving you here, but it’s time to go.”
Cassian gulped, and then saw another one climb off the back of the truck. She was smaller than the others, which is how Cassian knew it was a woman, and she was pulling her suit off of her, moving slow. She had definitely just been in the thick of it, and was still getting undressed, putting down the heavy pants.
“What’s this, Chief? The Doc still isn’t gone?”
He doesn’t know who she is, but he really wants to.
“Can’t take all the animals with him, doesn’t want to leave any behind.”
There’s a sympathetic look to her eye, he can tell, and then she reaches out a hand to her boss, the only one that looks like he hasn’t recently been in the middle of the fire.
“Let me call up Baze. He can get the truck and trailer up her in fifteen minutes, easily. You know how he drives. He and Chirrut have the room. We can pack them up in the trailer, get him out of here. We can’t just leave the animals here.”
There’s a long look from the Chief to her, and Cassian thinks he might have it…
“We’re leaving you here, Erso. Can’t stay back this way. It jumped the river and is running around the North side of town. If you’re not out of here in fifty minutes, I’m sending Kes up your way.”
“Send Kes up my way, and I’ll fill that pretty truck of his with cages as well,” she shoots back, and that gets a roll of a few pairs of eyes.
The others load back up into the truck, and the Chief pauses for a moment before he picks up the woman’s firesuit and offers it. She just shakes her head.
“If it comes to that, it’s too late. Either we’re out, or we’re trapped.”
Cassian feels his blood run cold for a moment, and Jyn looks back at him, smiling. “But we’re going to be out of here by then. Kes is at the end of the drive watching the progress, so he’ll keep an eye on us. No need to worry.”
She sounds a lot more confident than he feels.
“Be careful, my child,” the Chief says, and he grabs her arm for a moment, the older man looking full of concern.
She just shrugs him off. “Don’t worry. It’s just me and the Doc, and I can take him.”
Cassian is filled with dread, watching the firetruck head down the road, back towards the fire, away from them, and he has to wonder if he just doomed them both.
They both watch the truck head down the road, and then she’s turning on him, hands on her hips. “Phone. Your phone still working?”
He blinks for a moment, then nods. He still has that, at least. “Yeah, it’s on the-”
“Thanks. Start packing your shit, doc. Larger cages on the bottom, as many as you can. I got a friend, he can bring another trailer like yours. We can get them all out. Any that are special cargo, he has enough space in the cab, can take them in that. Just make sure to leave space for me somewhere, but I don’t mind climbing in back.”
She’s gone in a whirlwind, heading to his desk, and is already punching in numbers. All Cassian can do is nod before heading back deep into the building, starting to move animals.
He knows how this works, knows how to separate them. He has predator and prey - the squirrels, rabbits, picas, they all go into one of the trucks. He packs them into his, cage after cage, trying to keep them all labeled, so he remembers who is who, who had what medicine, and fuck, he doesn’t have any medicine for anyone, but he does have milk… he packs that into the very back, the bottom layer, the supplies he has to have for the young and the sick.
“That box there-” he says when she walks into the back room. “All of that. We have to have that. That’s all of the medicine and the milk.” So many babies, so much needed. He’s not even taking everything. “The warmers. Should I take the warmers?”
“Fuck the warmers, get the animals,” she says, and she’s moving around the room, counting, looking at them all. “Records, you got records, Doc?”
“Yeah, everything is online,” he confirms, and he has his laptop, his computers. “Okay, we just have to pack them in. Anything with a black or red label, we’ll put them into the other truck.”
Separating those that were more likely to eat the others was… the best thing he could do.
They work together, moving crate after crate, and his arms are sore, but she doesn’t stop moving, not until every single white, pink, grey, and green label is packed away. His trailer only just barely shuts, and he covers the open areas with wet towels, just in case of smoke, and then he runs back in.
“Your friend, he’s coming?”
“He’s coming,” she snaps, and he nods, walking out back.
Herein lies the problem.
He has a few baby fawns, and they’ll be fine in the larger cages in the back of the truck, but he has two mama sheep, one with a new baby, and the other ready to burst with twins. She, Erso, stops beside him when she sees the two pens he’s looking at.
“Is she pregnant?” the woman asks, and he nods.
“Yeah. I’m thinking we put the fawns into the kennel I keep for Kay, and he can ride in the truck. If you’re up for it… can you drive while I ride in the back with the sheep?”
“I’ll ride with them,” she says, and she reaches out, grabbing his hand. “Just so you know, I think it’s really admirable, that you wouldn’t leave any of them behind.”
The smoke in the air is getting thicker, and the wind is picking up, making it all sound even more ominous, but above it all, he can hear the sound of a truck pulling up.
“What’s in there?” she asks, and she’s pointing out behind the building… out to his camper.
“That’s my house,” he says, and he gives a shrug when he glances at her and sees the shocked look on her face. “It’s either pull the trailer, or pull the camper. It’s an easy choice.”
“Dammit, Doc,” she mutters out with a breath, then shakes her head. “Come on, I have another call to me. I won’t make a good samaritan lose everything today.”
He doesn’t know what that means, but he follows her back inside, ready to finish up this evacuation.
There’s a huge hulk of a man standing at the door when they walk back in, and even Kay has quieted down, just watching him. Cassian opens up, asking for him by name. “Baze?”
All he gets is a grunt, and then he sees the woman, Erso, throw herself into him.
“Baze, thank god. We got a pregnant sheep back there, but we’re planning to fill your trailer with cages of opossums and foxes, and the truck bed with three fawn. Is Chirrut with you?”
“He’s back at the farm,” the gruff man says, and he flatten’s down Jyn’s hair a little, like it isn’t a bit of a mess from everything. “I told him that we would be bringing a load back. He was cleaning out all of the stalls as I was leaving, and called Bodhi to come over after his shift to help. We can take them all.”
She nods, and smiles a little, the two sharing a moment, and Cassian notes that she looks at the older man like he’s a father, much like the Fire Chief had.
“Baze, this is the Doc. Wouldn’t leave them behind.”
“Thank you,” Cassian says, reaching out a hand to shake. The man’s grip is huge, but Cassian takes a step back and towards the other cages. “Everything is packed, we just have to move.”
She steps away from them, towards his desk, and he remembers her saying something about another call. “I’ll be there to help in a minute.”
“Hurry, little sister,” the big man says, and they both look to him, knowing what road he had come up. “It’s moving fast.”
She nods, and then Cassian gets to work, only just picking up on what she’s saying as he moves a cage with three kits through the clinic and out towards the empty trailer.
“Kes, just bring the damn truck…”
“... he has a sheep that’s pregnant with twins and…”
“No he can’t ride the sheep-”
“... the dog isn’t big enough to ride…”
“Yes, Poe can meet the rabbits, just bring the fucking-”
By the time he comes back in, she’s off the phone and is grabbing the last of the fox cages. “Got another truck on the way to grab your RV, so it better be ready to move in ten minutes or less, because that’s about all the time we have.”
Cassian blinks, freezing where he stands, and then he’s half pushed out of the way by Baze, who has a cage in each hand. He sputters for a moment, then finds the words.
“You’re saving my house?”
It’s just a house, just a place, it’s something he can replace, but-
“Yeah, Doc. We’re not leaving your house here.”
She looks so genuine, her eyes wide, like she actually genuinely cares about him , that Cassian almost kisses her.
“That’s the last of them,” the big man says, and Cassian jerks away, suddenly realizes that he had been leaning in, had been going for it, and she… she’s smiling, but not at him, and he feels like a fucking moron.
“Thanks, Baze. We just need to get the big ones, then.”
The man nods, and Cassian swallows, forcing himself into action. He has a few big cages left, and he grabs them both, the pieces of them, to quickly assemble in the truck bed. He can fit two, side by side, which means putting two fawn in each. She comes out with blankets in hand, just as he’s finishing attaching the last snaps, and he gives a nod.
“Baze says they look skittish, so you should probably grab them. I’m going to throw all the other blankets in the back of your truck for the sheep, but Doc, she looks... “
He knows how she looks, ready to give birth. There had been bleeding earlier, and he’s scared he might lose them both, but Mountain Sheep are tough. He has to have faith.
“Try and wet the thinnest blankets down, one for each of the deer cages, and then one for yourself. We’re going to have to drive into…”
He points towards where they have to go, and she sees it. The smoke is becoming so thick, she’s scared they won’t even get out. There’s flames in the far distance, but they’re out of time.
Another truck is coming up the drive, and the woman grins as she sees it.
“Kes!” she hollers, and Cassian watches as she rushes to the other man. He has a firefighter suit on, and Cassian realizes that this is who she called, the one coming for his RV. The truck is definitely big enough to pull, and with space in the back. They might even have space for some of the medical equipment.
“Time to go, little rebel,” Kes says, and she nods.
“We’re going to hook your trailer up and get him out of here, okay?”
He nods back, and looks to the building. Fuck the equipment, it really is past time to go.
“Yeah… yeah, just go with him, get yourselves out of here.”
“Hey, no, I’m staying with you and the mama,” she says, and Cassian wants to kiss her again.
“Let’s go, Doc!” Baze calls from the doorway, and he gives a nod before hopping out of the truck and heading back inside.
It turns out, the large man is far more gentle than expected, with a fawn under each arm, and as Cassian follows out, carrying the one with the broken leg, he whistles to Kay. “In the truck, Kay.”
Kay does as told, hopping into his open door as Cassian helps to slide his fawn in, and Baze is going in for the last one. A truck goes flying by, his RV attached to the back, and there’s a sigh of relief in him as he realizes that he will have a change of clothes, that some of his other medical equipment, what he normally keeps in his truck, at least he’ll have that.
“Ready to get the sheep?” she asks, and he nods, seeing her come over.
“Baze, go on and get out of here,” Cassian says, and he can see the flames, can see that the road they have to head down, it’s getting too close. “Just go on!”
“I can take the dog,” the man offers, and Cassian shakes his head. Kay is too stubborn to go.”
“We’ll be right behind you.”
Moving a pregnant sheep proves harder than he imagined, but thank god that she’s there. He hadn’t expected it, but she had just hopped over the fence, picked up the newborn lamb, and carried it right out the gate, the mama following right behind. She had set it down onto the pile of blankets, and then climbed back down, easily lifting the mama into the truck bed. To say he was impressed was… well, something else.
The problem is, it’s time for the babies to come, and this mama isn’t up to moving.
“Doc, we have to go,” she is insisting behind him, and Cassian…. He has to use all of his strength to lift the mama onto a blanket, enough that he and Jyn can move her.
“Sorry, mama,” he says softly to the sheep, and she bleats at them, fights, more blood coming from her. The stress of this might kill her, kill the lamb, but there is no more time.
Between the two of them, they are able to lift her into the truck, and then Cassian looks up and sees what they are driving into.
The flames had almost reached the road, were visible from where he stands.
Anything that is left inside, they are just things. They have to go.
“Get in the truck, ma’am,” Cassian calls out, and he climbs into the driver’s seat, starting it up. Kay is there, good boy, and he looks over his shoulder to see that she has climbed in, has the pregnant ewe’s head in her lap. “Throw the wet blankets over yourselves.”
He doesn’t wait to make sure it is done, because time is up.
The speed in which Cassian drives is unreal, is dangerous, but there is no other choice. The trees along the road are starting to catch, and the heat is unreal. He fears for the lives of every creature in his care, but he really fears for the woman, the woman holding onto the pregnant sheep, and she should have driven, but there was no time to change it now.
When they hit the main road out of the forest, it is more flames, more smoke, but they keep going. Lines of firebreaks, they are all crossed, and more flames, more smoke, but he doesn’t stop, foot on the gas, going as hard as he can push it without wrecking them.
It is the most horrifying ten minutes of his life.
He only starts to breathe once there’s no longer fire on his left, and when he passes a fire break that hasn’t been crossed, he finally looks back over his shoulder. He doesn’t see the flames, doesn’t see the smoke, just sees her, sees that she looks so relieved, sees that she’s still holding onto the sheep, has the calf in her arms, wrapped up in the blanket that should be covering her head, sees the sweat running down her face.
He’s covered in sweat as well, the heat of it all burning him half alive, but they’re out of there, they’re safe.
When they reach a line of fire trucks, he pulls over, running back to check on them.
“I don’t know where I’m going,” he says, and she’s looking over at the fire chief, who looks absolutely relieved. There’s a bag on his shoulder, and he tosses it to them. She scrambles into the bag, pulls out a phone, and types out an address.
“Here, follow GPS.”
He gives a nod to her, and then to the fire chief, before climbing back into the truck. He saw the blood, knows that this mama needs her babies out of her, and so he hits the gas once he’s in, flying onto the highway, following GPS.
It’s a gate that he has passed a thousand times, but it’s open now, for once, and once he’s past a line of trees that seem to act like some sort of natural fence, he’s greeted with a beautiful sight.
It’s all pasture, pasture as far as can be seen, acres that are open to the view, and there’s horses running loose to one side, a large farm house in the middle, and multiple barns, huge barns… he knows now why she had brought him here. There was space for him.
His RV is parked to one side, parked beside another one, and the man that had driven it, Kes, is out there hooking up what looks to be a generator. The other truck is parked at one of the barns, the trailer backed up, and Cassian drives over there. He sees another man there, one he doesn’t know, sitting in the back of the truck, holding one of the fawns.
Putting the truck in park, he hops out, leaving Kay in the cab ( with the AC going ) and goes to take a step in - only to hear a scream.
“Doc! Doc, she’s looking worse!”
He freezes in his steps, then turns around, going to the woman and climbing into the truck bed. Yeah, there’s a lot of blood, but what she really needs is somewhere to give birth, and now.
“This is good, this is natural,” he says, and he looks up to see the other two men come running over. “She’s ready to push, but we can’t move her now.”
The other ewe is growing upset, so Cassian scoops up the lamb and sets it into the arms of the man he doesn’t know. The man’s eyes are clouded over, but he seems to take to the babe immediately. He then turns to Baze and lifts the ewe, ignoring how his back aches, before handing it to the other man.
“Alright, I don’t have any of my equipment on me, it’s in the truck, but this isn’t her first time giving birth. She knows what to do.”
Cassian sits down on the other side of her, moving the extra blankets to the sheep's back end, and rubs a little over the stomach. She’s stressed out, but he doesn’t have anything for it. All they can do is just keep her calm. “Scratch her between the ears, and keep your other arm wrapped around her.”
“Like this?” she asks, and Cassian looks up to see that she’s holding the mama tight, trying to keep her calm.
“Perfect,” he says, and he looks back down, can see something starting to poke out.
It’s more blood, more kicks, more bleating, and then the first little lamb is out. He worries for a split second, rubbing the babe’s tummy, but then it lets out a noise for it’s mama. Cassian doesn’t do too much to it, just rubs some of the excess blood off with a blanket, then sets it down onto a clean one, so that the mama can give it love after the second one arrives.
“Okay, one more,” he says, and he looks up at the woman, sees that she is watching him. There’s a look of disbelief, a smile, even wonder, and he smiles back, smiles at her… she had saved them.
“It’s because of you that they’re alive,” he says, and he wouldn’t have left the sheep behind in the end… but he was really having to pick and choose. “You saved all of them.”
“Shut up,” she says, and there’s totally a tear in her eye, which she wipes away. “You’re the one that wouldn’t leave them. I just couldn’t leave you.”
He smiles at her, and then there’s another little lamb coming out, along with more of the sack. It’s disgusting and messy, but then he’s holding a second bleating lamb, and cleaning it up with a towel.
“Looks like two little girls,” he says, looking up at the woman, and she lets out a burst of laughter. They’re still smiling as the sheep shift around, the mama bringing her babies close, and then he looks up to see where the other men went.
They’re just standing there watching.
“Alright, Doc. The barn is all cleared out for you. You should be able to fit everyone in here. We have two of the largest pens cleared out, one for the deer, the others for the sheep. You just tell us where to put things.”
He’s covered in blood, and so is she, but he just laughs, giving a nod.
He’d happily stay like this, except the other man, Kes, is coming over.
“Hey, rebel! Chief says you gotta get back when you’re done. I’m heading over now. It hopped over the stream and is running up into the mountains. You ready?”
The woman, the one that everyone calls by something other than her name, it seems, gives a nod. Cassian can’t bear to let her go, though, and reaches out, grabbing her hand.
“I’m serious. We’re all alive because of you.”
She’s blushing, and he wants to reach out and brush hair from her face, but he’s covered in blood and fluid and all sorts of nasty. Even now, he’s getting it all over her hands.
“I’m glad to have helped.”
She’s leaving, climbing out of the truck, and he is trying to stumble up, but he has too much over him, blankets and such, to reach her. All he can do is watch as she climbs into the man’s truck, Kes, and watch her ride away, back towards the fire.
He can see the fire now, can see how far it has spread. His little sanctuary is certainly gone… but that’s his last concern.
“I didn’t even ask for her name,” he says, and he’s surprised to hear a voice behind him, the man he doesn’t know.
“Do you see the home parked beside yours?” the voice asks, and he looks to see his little trailer, all parked and set up beside another. “That one is hers.”
The past three days have been… exhausting. After taking care of the mama sheep, Cassian had had to clean up, because blood on his clothes when handling foxes? Not a good idea. He had a change of clothes, thanks to Kes and the woman that Chirrut refused to name, and used a hose to clean off, ignoring the fact there was a shower in his trailer, with a small water reserve, and the shower inside.
He just wanted the work to be done. And work… he had.
Every animal had gotten a check over, every bit of his records had been updated, and Chirrut and Baze had both helped every step of the way. He learned about the horse ranch he was on, a place for retired horses that were injured, lame, or were too old to work any longer. He learned that both men had been firefighters, like her , until Baze had an injury… and then they had opened their dream a little sooner, a place for the injured to heal.
Cassian fit right in.
He paid for his keep, not that they asked for anything, by giving all of the horses a check up, and after two days of hard work, every animal was tucked into their own bed, the ones that could be allowed a little more freedom had their own space, and the two little lambs were named… no, the names were not really female names, but both men were honored.
On the third day, a woman pulled up with a little boy in tow, and he learned that the woman’s name was Shara, and her son was Poe… they were Kes’ family. It made Cassian feel a little less stress, given how he had seen the clear familiarity between the woman and Kes, and he gladly welcomed them to see the animals.
Kay, in particular, loved the little boy, who proudly told them both that he had a little corgi at home, his BeeBee. Cassian had to promise that they would have a playdate for his giant mutt and the little thing, but later.
Maybe after the fire is gone.
Three days later, there’s a new truck pulling up and parking beside his own, and he looks up from what he’s doing, shutting and locking the barn doors, to see the woman climbing out of the truck. She looks exhausted as she lumbers up the front steps, but she doesn’t go inside, instead sitting down on the porch swing.
He doesn’t know why, but he thinks she might be waiting for him.
Kay follows two steps behind as he walks up to the steps, and when his work boots hit the porch itself, her eyes open, and crinkle a little in the corners.
“Doc, about your clinic, it-”
“Cassian.” He knows it’s rude to interrupt, but he has spent the past three days worrying about her, wondering what her name is, and he wants to hear her say his name, not his title. “My name is Cassian. And it’s just a building. I already know it’s gone.”
She nods a little in response, then pats the space beside her. He approaches and sits down on the other side of the swing, his hand resting on the space between. Her hand is less than an inch from his, and he wants to reach out, to touch it.
“Yeah… Yeah, we tried, but-”
“It’s just a building,” he says honestly. “The equipment, it’s all covered by insurance. What matters is the animals, and they all made it out, because of you.”
There’s a smile on her lips, but she says nothing for a long moment. He wants to ask, to ask about her name, but she finally turns her head to look at him.
“My name is Jyn.”
Jyn . He smiles, glad to finally know her name, and gives a nod.
There’s another long moment of silence, and for the first time since it all began, Cassian is enjoying a moment to just sit, to think. It has been so chaotic, every waking moment taking care of the animals, helping Baze with the horses, helping Chirrut with the cooking, and then back to his own animals, cataloguing new injuries, worrying about the new births, and even the new intakes…
This is the first time since the fire began that he has just sat down.
He opens his mouth to say something, and turns his head to look at her, only to notice that Jyn’s head is dropping forward, her eyes heavy.
“You should probably get some sleep,” he says, and there’s a smile on her lips as her eyes open a little, glancing his way.
“I know. I should have probably slept at the firehouse, but I wanted to check on you, make sure you were still here.”
He laughs a little, because really, that sounds crazy. “Where else am I going to go?”
That hits him hard, all of a sudden. Where else is he going to go?
“You could stay,” she says, and he looks up at her, the panic in his eyes starting to melt away quickly when he sees the hope. “Baze… he likes the animals, and needs the help. Bodhi comes over sometimes, but he works elsewhere. Chirrut, he’s getting on in years as well. They have a thing for taking in the lost and the broken-”
“Are you saying I’m lost and broken?” he asks, and it’s a genuine question, because sometimes he feels that way.
Her eyes are suddenly very open, very wide as she looks at him, trying to answer that question. She finally seems to have an answer. “I was, when they found me.”
They had stopped swinging, at some point, and Cassian starts to rock them again, her ankles crossed and no longer quite touching the ground. They rock back and forth for a while, their eyes on each other.
“I wouldn’t be against staying,” he finally says, and there’s a slight smile on her lips before she sags down a little. She looks like she might drop where she sits.
“Good,” she says softly.
It takes a few more swings, and then she shifts over closer, so their legs are touching, and her hand settles onto his knee. Cassian pulls his arm up, wrapping it around her shoulders, and when her head falls onto his chest, he has to resist the urge to kiss her temple.
Instead, his own head rests on top of hers, and he closes her eyes.
“Just stay,” she whispers again, and he smiles at that thought.
It’s the last thought he has before he falls asleep.