I just show up.
The next few days become routine.
Not romantic or easy, but necessary.
I drive Lucy to the facility and back. I sit in waiting rooms while she talks to doctors. I order food so she doesn’t forget to eat. I make sure the penthouse doesn’t feel like a trap when she walks back into it.
Sometimes she falls asleep on the couch with paperwork on her lap. I cover her with a blanket and sit on the floor beside her like a guard dog.
Sometimes she wakes and blinks at me like she forgot I exist.
And then her eyes harden again with memory.
I let her.
I let her feel whatever she needs to feel without demanding she make it easier for me.
The guys rotate through in their own way.
Theo shows up first, loud and obnoxious and trying too hard, and Lucy barely acknowledges him, until he brings Emily with him.
Emily doesn’t look at me when she speaks.
She looks at Lucy.
“How are you?”
Lucy’s voice is quiet. “Tired.”
Then she glances at me for the first time, eyes sharp as blades. “You screw up again, and I’ll use you as my cadaver this year.”
Theo mutters, “She scares me.”
Caleb’s presence is different. He shows up with a binder of information, what Köhler requested, what Teller needs, and what the facility can accommodate.
He sits at the island in the kitchen and works like a machine while Lucy showers.
When she comes out, hair damp, wearing my sweater again, Caleb looks up and says, “We got approval for the additional equipment and the imaging schedule. We will make sure Köhler gets what he needs.”
Lucy perks up, just slightly.
“Thank you.”
Caleb nods once. “Don’t thank me. Thank Julian. He finally stopped being an idiot.”
I deserve that too.
Rowan doesn’t come in person. He calls. Checks in. Keeps his voice even, like he’s holding the entire world together, so I don’t have to.
One night, after Lucy falls asleep, I step onto the balcony and call him back.
“I’m going to fix this,” I say, voice tight.
Rowan exhales slowly. “Good.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know.” A pause. Then, quieter: “Don’t waste it.”
