"Do you want anything to eat, Lily?" Damien asked, his voice unusually gentle as he stepped closer to her bedside.

The girl looked up at him with wide eyes, her small hands still wrapped around the stuffed bunny Ava had brought the day before. She blinked a few times, thinking. “Can I have strawberry yogurt? And those small chocolate cookies in the red pack.”

Damien nodded. “Anything else?”

She shook her head, then added, “Maybe apple juice too.”

“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Don’t go anywhere,” he said with a faint smirk.

Lily giggled. “I’m literally attached to wires. Where am I going?”

Damien actually chuckled, a low sound...