Page 116 of Enchanted

Seeing the child was hard enough.

But her mother…her mother broke me.

She was at her daughter’s side, holding her hand tight. There was a smile on her face as she kept up a constant stream of chatter about someone called Dotty. Her cat, I suspected. You wouldn’t know from her voice that she was shattering. It was in the bruise-like bags under her eyes. The deep lines carved around her mouth—far too deep for someone her age. In her crumpled clothes and unbrushed hair.

This was a woman whose heart was already broken. Who was trying to hold it together for the sake of her child.

“Oh,” Ethan said as he spotted them. Grief leaked from his mark as he leaned into me. “Let’s move aside.”

We did so in silence. I should’ve let them pass. I knew this.

But how could I? I knew all the reasons not to. Especially not now I had Ethan. It was too much to risk. One person making a miraculous recovery from cancer at this hospital was enough. Two would raise questions.

“It’s not fair,” Ethan whispered after they passed us. “It’s not fucking fair, Rami. Why me? Why’d I get better instead of her?”

Ethan’s words pushed me past the edge of the decision I’d been hovering over. My power shot after them, washing through the little girl and healing her. For good measure, I let it rush through her mother too, restoring her stamina and killing off anything nasty that might be biding its time, waiting for the worst possible moment to let itself be known.

When it was done, I tugged Ethan closer and kissed his head. “A miracle happened for you, Eth, maybe it’ll happen for her too.”

It already had. Once he knew the truth, I could tell him that.

We were silent as we made our way outside. As soon as we were in the fresh air, Ethan took several deep breaths, like he was cleansing his lungs. “Fuck. I hate the smell of hospitals.”

I spotted a café over the road. “How about we make Lily even happier and go grab you some cake?”

He laughed. “You will have to stop feeding me up eventually.”

“Tell you what, we’ll have our coffee and cake, then how about we walk it off around Richmond Park?”

Ethan sighed happily. “Now that sounds heavenly.”

I wished I was looking forward to it as much as Ethan was, but in truth, I was terrified. Even if Ethan took the news well, it was still a huge thing for him to adjust to.

And if he didn’t take it well? If he rightly hated me for lying to him? For leaving him in this limbo of anxiety when I could’ve told him earlier?

He might go on this walk and keep on walking. Right out of my life, with my heart in his hands.

The café was packed. Doctors deep in conversation, tapping away at iPads. Nurses yawning over coffees, looking half-dead on their feet. Patients chatting with their family members, seemingly thrilled to have a taste of normality.

Ethan and I joined the back of the queue. He tried to peer down at the counter but it was blocked from his view. “Can you see what cakes they have?”

I was tall enough to have a clear vantage point. “Red velvet, chocolate fudge, and lemon.” He pulled a face at the last one, making me laugh. “Wait, do you not like lemon cake?”

“Absolutely not.” He shuddered. “Whoever thought to combine citrus and cake ought to be hung, drawn, and quartered.”

Another laugh rumbled from me. “The vast majority of people would disagree with you there.”

Later, I wouldn’t be able to say exactly what tipped me off.

Maybe it was how the hair on my arms suddenly rose. Or how my instincts were screaming at me to get Ethan out of there. Perhaps even the quiet click. Such an innocuous sound. Especially in a busy place like this.

Whatever it was, it had me reacting instantly.

I threw out my shield over as many as I could.

But I was too late.

The noise hit us first.