POV: Evans

I watched Hailey wake up very slowly, like a computer restarting after a huge, forced shutdown. I sat in the armchair across the room, feeling every second of the fourteen hours she’d been asleep. My whole body ached from staying awake and waiting, but the pain was nothing compared to the guilt eating me alive.

When she finally pushed the blanket aside and sat up, my heart hammered against my ribs. I saw the sunlight catch her face. She looked peaceful, but her eyes, when they met mine, were hazy and strange. The sharpness, the anger from yesterday, was gone.

“Hailey, you’re awake,” I said quickly, standing up...