A door slamming.
Then, for a long while, there’s only silence. Silence, and that awful beeping noise that never seems to stop.
Wake up.
Wake up.
Wake up.
The hand tightens on mine again.
“You will not die,” the man whispers, his voice breaking on every word. “I won’t let you.” He sucks in a ragged breath. “Stay with me, Emilia.Please, love… just…stay.”
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Something stirs inside me — some small, forgotten part of my soul, desperate to reach the surface. But the ocean of grief is too deep. Drowning me. Dragging me back under, to that place without death or pain or tragedy.
The voices drift away.
The beeps dull into static.
And, again, I drift.
“Twelve hours.”The girl is back, her tone full of indignation. “Twelve hours without any change.”
“Lady Th… I mean, Lady Chloe.” The doctor clears his throat. “The brain needs time to heal. She suffered quite a trauma. Her body is badly bruised.”
“You said the brain MRI showed no bleeding.”
“Yes, her brain is fine. The rest of her body took the brunt of the impact. She’ll be in considerable pain, though — that’s why we gave her a sedative. Once it wears off, consciousness will return.” He pauses gently. “Everyone wakes in their own time.”
“But when ishertime? Specifically?”
“It could be hours. It could be days.”
“What’s the point of having a doctor around if they have no definitive answers about anything?” The girl lets out a scream of frustration. “Shoo! Get out! Come back when you actually have something useful to tell me.”
I hear the click of a door closing.
There’s a beat of silence before the sound of soft sobbing fills the air, punctuated by regular beeps from my heart monitor.
My eyelids are heavier than anvils, but I manage to crack them open a sliver. The first thing I see is Chloe curled up in a chair beside my hospital bed, her head bowed into her hands. I’ve never seen her cry. I didn’t even know the girl had tear ducts, to be perfectly honest.
“Did you seriously justshoothe doctor away?” I ask, my voice scratchy and faint.
Somehow, she hears me. Her head flies up and her bloodshot eyes lock on mine.
“You’re awake! Oh my god, you’re awake!” With a scream, she hurls her body onto the bed, hitting my chest with a thud that knocks the wind from my lungs.
“Oof!” I wheeze, but she only hugs me tighter.
The door opens with a bang and Carter rushes into the room, no doubt drawn by his sister’s screams. The fear on his face changes swiftly to relief as our eyes meet over Chloe’s shoulder and he realizes I’m alive. He’s halfway to my side when he pulls up short, seeming to regain control over his emotions. He stops five feet away, breathing rapidly, staring at me with a look in his eyes I’ve never seen before — hope warring with something a hell of a lot more intense.
“Hi,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say.