She remembered everything, and chose to forget him.

——

Lily’s POV

The world filtered back slowly.

A clipped, professional, sliced through the veil of unconsciousness.

“She’s stable. But we’ll need to monitor her closely for any signs of internal bleeding or delayed trauma.”

Another voice—deeper, achingly familiar, cut in, strained and trembling, like it had been dragged through hours of guilt and grief.

“But she’s going to be okay, right?”

A pause. The kind that carries weight.

“Yes. She is.”

I hovered between that place of sleep and wake, the darkness behind my eyelids a quiet, velvet thing. A sanctuary I wasn’t ready to leave. But the world, loud and...