His attention dropped back to Becca, his hand returning to hers without hesitation, thumb brushing lightly over her skin again like nothing else in the room mattered.
Because right now?
Nothing else did.
“They wanted to break her,” he said quietly.
His jaw tightened.
“They just gave me a reason to end them.”
The monitor continued its steady rhythm.
Becca didn’t move.
Didn’t wake.
And Silas?
He didn’t leave her side.
Not once.
10
Becca
I don’t feel the moment my body gives out.
There’s no sharp break, no clean end to the chaos—just this slow, heavy pull, like I’m sinking somewhere deep where everything softens. The noise fades first. The panic. The fight. It all slips away until it’s just… quiet.
And then—
I’m somewhere else.
I know it before I even open my eyes.
It’s the smell.
Ink. Clean and sharp, mixed with that sterile edge that never bothered me the way it does other people. It settles into me like something familiar, something safe. My chest loosens without me trying.
I open my eyes slowly.
And I’m back.
The shop.
I can hear the machines humming in the background, steady and constant, like a rhythm I used to live by. It wraps around me, grounding me before I even fully take it in.
“Don’t overthinkit, Becs.”
My chest tightens—but not in a bad way.
I turn my head, and there he is.
Cody.
Leaning against the counter like he always did, arms crossed, watching me with that same calm look. Not judging. Not hovering. Just… there.
