Not enough.
No time is enough.
I do not move. “Ron?”
She hesitates.
That is answer enough.
“Kauss, don’t.”
I stand slowly.
Evie remains still beneath blue diagnostic light.
Nara steps into my path. “Listen to me.”
“No.”
“If you leave like this?—”
“He is still alive.”
“Police are looking for him.”
“Police looked for him after the kidnapping. Police looked for him after the flood. Police keep looking while bodies appear.” My voice remains quiet. That is how I know I am at the edge. “He will not reach her again.”
Mira’s face hardens. “And what happens if she wakes up and you’re dead?”
I stop.
The question lands exactly where she aims it.
“She wakes up,” Nara says, “and Darlene tells her you came, said everything she needed to hear, then went out to die for vengeance instead of staying for love. Is that the man you want to be?”
No.
But Ron is breathing.
Both truths stand in front of me like enemies.
Darlene appears in the doorway behind Mira. Her eyes are red, her mouth flat. “He’ll come back if you don’t finish it.”
Nara turns on her. “Do not encourage him.”
“I’m not.” Darlene looks at me. “I’m telling him the truth. Ron has crossed every line because he thinks lines are invitations. If Kauss sits in this room holding her hand, we all get a lovely moment before that burned lunatic sends another message.”
I look between them.
Nara furious. Darlene grieving. Evie silent.
“What would she want?” Nara asks.
The answer should be simple.
Evie would want no deaths. Evie would want justice without slaughter. Evie would want me to come back as the man who said I love you.
But Evie is in that bed because Ron has never respected mercy, restraint, or consequence enough to stop.
