Or at least, I thought it was no.
Fear moved through me slowly, like cold water spreading beneath a door.
“You need help,” I said. “You’ve been unconscious for nine months.”
His lips moved again.
This time, I could not understand him.
I bent close enough to feel the weak warmth of his breath.
“Safe,” he whispered.
I frowned. “Safe?”
His eyelids fluttered. His face tightened with effort.
“Not… yet.”
Then his eyes closed.
“No,” I said quickly. “Ethan. Stay with me.”
But his hand went still.
The monitor continued its steady rhythm, calm and indifferent, as though nothing impossible had just happened in front of me.
I stood beside his bed for several seconds, shaking.
A man everyone believed would never wake up had opened his eyes because he heard my voice.
And the first thing he had done was warn me about his cousin.
The door opened behind me.
I spun around so quickly I nearly stumbled.
The private nurse stepped inside carrying a tray of neatly arranged medication bottles. She was a thin woman in her forties with tired eyes and tightly pinned hair. Her name tag read MARA.
“Mrs. Thornton?” she asked, pausing. “Are you all right?”
I opened my mouth.
Ethan’s warning echoed in my mind.
Don’t trust Jason.
Safe. Not yet.
“I…” I looked back at Ethan. His face was still again. His eyes were closed. If I told her what happened, would she believe me? Would she call everyone? Would Jason come running?
Mara set the tray down, watching me carefully. “You look pale.”
“I thought he moved,” I said.
It was the safest piece of truth I could offer.
Mara’s expression softened in a way that suggested she had heard this before.
“Sometimes there are reflexes,” she said gently. “Muscle twitches. They can happen.”
“This wasn’t a reflex.”
She glanced toward the bed, then back to me. “What did he do?”
I hesitated.
“He moved his finger.”
