She raises an eyebrow. “What’s the next one?”
“Effa waking up.”
The humor fades because that’s the only thing that matters now.
The fear still sits there, unspoken but constant. Brain damage. Memory loss. Impairments no one can predict yet.
None of that changes anything.
If she wakes up different, I stay.
If she wakes up exactly the same, I stay.
There isn’t a version of this where I walk away.
But first, she has to open her beautiful eyes.
And that’s the only thing I want right now.
Chapter Five
MERCS
The Next Day
The tension in the waiting room presses against my chest like a weight I can’t shift. Every breath feels shallow, dragged in and pushed out on instinct rather than choice.
Today, they’re bringing Effa out.
That thought alone makes my hands shake.
We’re gathered in the waiting area again, sitting in the same chairs, looking at the same muted walls, with the same machines humming somewhere beyond those doors, waiting for the doctor to explain how this is going to happen.
How they’re going to wake my girl up.
How they’ll know if she’s coming back to us fully.
If she’s coming back at all.
The thought nearly buckles me, and I bend forward, hands braced on my knees, forcing air into my lungs.
Will she breathe on her own?
Will she wake up confused?
Will she remember me?
The questions spiral, each one heavier than the last. I’m trying to stay steady, trying to hold myself together for everyone else, but the uncertainty is brutal.
A gentle, reassuring hand moves slowly up and down my back. I straighten and see Kristy beside me, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. She looks wrecked, but she’s still here. They’re all still here.
“Will they hurry the hell up?” Donny mutters, echoing exactly what’s clawing at my insides.
“Donny,” Lettie chides softly, though there’s strain in her voice too. “They’ll come when they’re ready.”
I start pacing before I even realize I’ve moved.
“Mercs, you’re wearing a groove in the floor,” Tank says. “Calm the fuck down.”
