ame quieter t

ing some cinematic new beginning. Just light. Soft and ordinary, brushing

on, the long silence with Maya and the tight-lipped smile from Mom-I couldn't b

ime in months, I had

rce. No chemical fog to dim it

e-Nadia's soft sleep mumble down the hall, the groan of old woo

ody didn't know what to do with all the silence. My brain kept replaying every

scream. It whispe

still folded neatly in my

ck to the place that had nearly hollowed me out,

irt. Hair tied back. No makeup. No p

ack to me. She turned only slightly when she heard m

it. "T

goin

ust to drop s

t ask. Just nodded like

a sun-dazed cat. Maya was nowhere to be seen. I didn't blame her. Th

ition like starting it might set off something irr

ven if I went blind. Same stoplights. Same coffee shop I used to

different. Like I was headed to

ot, the tighter

ries. The version of me who still believed she could

k-not to save anyone

he letter clenched in my fist, like it migh

ld coffee and something else, something

ing notes without looking up. Her pen

brie

ust here to d

She didn't ask what it was. She didn't have

hen the double doors slammed open behind me. The

early-thirties, MVA with head trauma and su

V

tur

r like a moving fortress. The man on it was in a blood-streak

line. A face that belonged on magazine covers, not in triage. But

so sharp, so familiar,

ldn't b

schedule. Hell, I was supposed to be walki

eathless. "Gabriella! Can you assist? We're sh

tter was still crumpled in m

en in unifor

r, glove up. We

ike that, I

nderneath it, and followed the controlled chaos down the hall like a thread p

terile smell of antiseptic stung my nose, but beneath it was something

d with the precision of a well-oiled machine, voices clipped and professiona

s pulling tight around my fingers as I moved on in

is suit, and the gash above his eyebrow was still leaking. I was about to check

Just for

d to be awake. Not

atically, like my voice might anchor hi

ce like he was trying to place me in a puzzle with no edges. His

dn't even hesitate. "I'm

ain stole it, twisted his expression, and I saw it for what it

l fragments in you. You're stable now, but I nee

e, just enough to catch my eyes again.

n't do

is words, but bec

actured

here was something familiar there-a pain I recognized, one tha

clipped but urgent: "Isaac Langton. Billionaire. Media

e room, eyes flickered-some grim, some shock

cian," someone whispered, like saying it out

oke through. "Prep

almost suddenly, his hand reached out-a trembling, uncertain grasp that found min

just us-his warm skin against mine, the steady pulse ben

gain. His grip loosened but didn't quite let go, lik

tcher away with practiced urgency,

them, leaving a silence tha

armth of his hand-like a whisper that