73

73

Riley

I don’t know how long I stood there, staring at the door. Time had lost all meaning. The sterile scent of the hospital, the steady hum of machines, the distant murmur of doctors and nurses—it all blurred together, a numbing backdrop to the chaos inside my head.

I should go back in. I should sit by his side and refuse to move until he woke up. But Ron’s words echoed in my mind, sharp and unforgiving.

“This is your fault.”

I pressed my hands against my temples, trying to block out the guilt clawing at my insides. Maybe if I had done things differently—if I had just let Ethan in instead of pushing him away—he wouldn’t have been in that car. Maybe he wouldn’t have been lying in that hospital bed, slipping further away with every second.

A soft voice broke through my thoughts.

“Riley?”

I turned to see Ella standing in the doorway, her face blotchy from crying, her eyes rimmed with exhaustion. She looked small, fragile, like she could collapse at any moment.

“He’s the same,” she m