"Ventress gave him a look that was so completely her, it tore him apart. "You don't...tell me what to do, Idiot." A small smile surprised him. "Never could," he admitted. "Damn right." Another bout of coughing racked her thin frame, and for a devastating, heart-scalding second Vos thought this would take her. But she continued. "I'm proud of you for...what you did over there. You chose loving me instead of hating him." Her bloody-frothed lips curved in a smile. "Best choice you've ever made."