“Yes.”
My throat closed. “I can’t go back home, can I?”
Patel hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, but it was more than enough. “No,” he said quietly. “You can’t.”
A sound tore out of my chest before I could stop it—thin and broken and humiliating. I turned my face into the pillow, pressing my mouth into the fabric, as if that might keep the noise inside me.
I felt his presence shift closer. The chair creaked softly.
“I know,” Patel murmured, something sad in his tone. “I know this feels like everything is being taken from you all at once. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left.”
I lay there, breathing unevenly, letting the fog pull at me again. My body was so tired—like it had been running for days without stopping.
“Will Jace really come see me?” I asked, eventually, barely audible.
Patel was quiet for a moment. “Yes,” he said. “He will.”
“And he’s… he’s not angry?”
“No,” Patel said. “He’s worried.”
“About me?”
“Yes,” he said simply.
I didn’t know what to do with that.
My eyelids grew heavier, the medicine they’d given me finally winning. The room stayed dim and quiet, mercifully so.
“Elior,” Patel said as my eyes slipped shut. “You don’t have to figure everything out today. We’re here to help you through it.”
I nodded faintly, even though he might not have seen it.
“Get some rest. A nurse will come in a few minutes to bandage your injuries. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
2
Elior
Warmth brushed through my hair, slow and soothing.
At first, I thought I was dreaming.
I floated there, half-asleep, wrapped in the dark, aware only of this gentle rhythm—fingers smoothing over my head, pausing now and then like the hand might disappear if it moved too fast.
I shifted.
The touch didn’t stop.
I opened my eyes.
For a second, the room swam into shape, and then my gaze focused.
Jace was sitting beside my bed.
Close enough that his knee brushed the mattress. His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw tight, like he’d been holding himself together with sheer force of will. One hand rested in my hair, the other gripping the edge of the bed like he was afraid I might vanish if he let go.
Behind him, half in shadow, Patel stood with his arms foldedloosely, back against the wall. He watched us without speaking, just a silent observer.
