1:15 AM. ICU, St. Nicholas Hospital.

The double doors swung open, and Mrs. Carter stumbled out. She was pale, her hands trembling as she clutched a tissue to her nose. She looked at Mr. Carter and shook her head, unable to form words, before collapsing into his arms on the waiting room chair.

Mr. Carter held her, his own face a mask of grey exhaustion. He looked up at Aria.

“I can’t,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I can’t see her like that. Not yet.”

He gestured vaguely toward the doors. “You go, Aria. You were with her at the end… at the fall.”

Aria nodded solemnly. She pulled Damian’s...