[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"He doesn't remember a single thing after the Meristate merger of 2015, does he, Aris? Tell me the truth before I lose my mind."

Sofia Lanka stood in the sterile, dimly lit corridor of the hospital’s private wing, her hands trembling as she clutched a cold paper cup of water. She didn't look at Dr. Aris; her eyes were fixed on the heavy oak door of Jack’s suite, where the man she had loved for years sat like a stranger carved from ice. The hospital smelled of floor wax and missed opportunities, a sharp, clinical scent that made her stomach churn.

"It’s a specific type of retrograde...