I sagged into the couch. I didn’t remember choosing to sit.
My body simply dropped.
Dani hovered like a small, furious hawk before disappearing into the kitchen, muttering threats about blankets and homicide and hydration.
Wyatt stood a few feet away. He didn’t fold his arms or loom or fidget. His hands slid into his jacket pockets like he didn’t trust them. Dirt streaked his jaw. Sweat dried in the collar of his shirt. There was a scrape across his knuckles, swelling, blood dried dark in the cracks of his skin.
His eyes devoured me.
Trying to decide if I was whole.
Trying to decide if he could breathe yet.
“You need anything?” He asked. His voice was rough and tired. “Anything at all.”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. The truth felt strange on my tongue. Raw and heavy.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to know right now.”
Dani reappeared with a blanket and a glass of water. Both her hands shook as she draped the blanket over my shoulders. She pressed the glass into my palms like she was handing over something sacred.
“Drink,” she ordered.
I obeyed.
The water tasted like metal and dust and safety.
She looked at Wyatt then. Really looked. Something wordless passed between them. A silent conversation layered with gratitude and warning of I swear to God if you break her, I’ll bury you in the yard.
“I’m going to make a call,” she said. “And then I’m not leaving her side.”
Wyatt nodded. “I’ll be outside.”
“No.”
The word ripped out of me and hung in the air.
Both of them froze.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I felt my pulse in my throat, in my fingertips, everywhere.
“I don’t want to be alone,” I said. Softer. Smaller. “Not yet.”
Wyatt didn’t move. He just watched me with that look that made my chest ache. He gave me space to take it back. I didn’t.
Dani let out a long breath and nodded. “Fine. But if either of you start trauma bonding or spilling your souls or whatever, I’m throwing something at both of you.”
Wyatt’s mouth twitched. “Fair.”
She stomped down the hall, already dialing.
Silence stretched across the room.
Not awkward.
Just full.
