The monitor continues its steady rhythm.
Unchanging.
And somehow that scares me more.
“Olivia…”
My voice cracks around her name.
I close my eyes for one brief second.
Then whisper the truth I’ve been trying not to say out loud.
“Please come back to me.”
Olivia
The darkness shifts again.
Not much.
Just enough to feel it.
Like water moving somewhere beneath the surface.
Then his voice reaches me.
Closer now.
Warm.
“…don’t get to miss this…”
The sound pulls at something deep inside me.
A thread tightening.
Anchoring me.
I try to follow it.
The heaviness fights back.
Pain flickers suddenly through the dark.
Sharp.
Bright.
Then memories crash after it.
Russ kicking the door open.
Gunfire.
His hands catching me before I hit the floor.
The way he said my name.
