Page 209 of The Encore’s Crown

She passes again.

The following morning, Dr. Reynolds tells us they’re ready to remove the tube. Marisol makes us wait outside while they do it. Rithy paces the length of the corridor. I stand with Natalia tucked beneath my arm, counting every minute until the door opens again.

“She did well,” Marisol tells us. “Her throat is going to be painful, and her voice may be very weak. Don’t push her to talk. Small sips only when we clear her for them.”

Back inside, Ma looks smaller without all the tubing around her face. There’s still oxygen beneath her nose, wires across her chest, bruises everywhere Dad put his hands, but her mouth is free. Her lips are dry and cracked. Her eyes find us as soon as we enter. Rithy reaches her first.

“Hey, Ma.”

She tries to answer, but only air comes out.

“Don’t force it,” I say, moving to her other side. “You don’t have to talk.”

Her gaze moves between us. Then past us, searching the room. Her brow creases, then she swallows and winces.

“Ma,” Rithy says softly. “What do you need?”

Her lips move again. This time, a sound comes with them. Thin and scraped raw.

“Where…”

I lean closer.

“What?”

She gathers what little strength she has left.

“Where is James?”

Chapter 72

I'm Glad

Kiri

Rithy stares at her.

Natalia freezes near the foot of the bed.

Ma’s eyes move between us, waiting.

A look passes between Rithy and me. We can’t tell her while she’s barely awake, her voice scraped raw and every monitor beside her waiting for something to go wrong. Rithy understands before I have to say it. He's always been the better liar purely out of necessity. He learned young, trying to hide every part of himself that might make Dad rage harder. Later, he learned how to deepen his voice and change his posture at gas stations in small towns where nobody cared that he played guitar for The Riven Altar. All they saw were the dividing lines and which side of them they thought he belonged on. He's lied for years for safety and survival.

Now he puts on the performance of his life.

“He’s fine, Ma.” Rithy says easily. “He’s at home. He called the paramedics and told them you had a nasty fall. You know how he hates hospitals and all the fuss.”

Something changes in Ma’s eyes. She doesn’t quite believe him. I can see it in the faint crease between her brows, but the part of her that has survived all these years by choosing hope over truth accepts what he gives her. She nods weakly. Then her eyelids fall shut. Within moments, her breathing settles into the slow rhythm of sleep.

I can see the rage behind his eyes flare now that she's not watching him. I catch Rithy by the arm and pull him into the hallway. The door has barely closed behind us before he rips free.

“Calm down,” I say.

“Calm down?” His voice cracks. “She gets her voice back, and the first person she asks for is that motherfucker. Are you kidding me?”

“Rith.”

“He tried to fucking kill her, and she asks where he is.” He drives both hands into my chest. "Fuck!"