Semua Bab TO HATE, TO TOUCH, TO RUIN: Bab 51 - Bab 59

I knew Mama’s footsteps before I saw her.Fast. Uneven. Followed by someone telling her to slow down, which she ignored with the absolute confidence of a woman who had given birth to four children for a cartel family and no longer believed rules applied to her.Dr. Keller turned toward the door. “We can’t have too many people in here yet.”Mama appeared in the doorway.She stopped the second she saw my eyes open.Didn’t move.One hand still gripped her purse. The other pressed flat against her chest. Her hair had come loose from its bun, just like I had imagined. A few strands clung to her cheek. Her mascara hadn’t run—of course it hadn’t—but the skin beneath her eyes was dark, like she had spent all three nights sitting under the same yellow light as me.Her lips parted.Nothing came out.I tried to smile.Only one side of my face moved.Mama dropped her purse.Metal and perfume bottles collided against the floor, and then she was crossing the room before Dr. Keller had a chance to s

Thumb.I sent the command down to it.Nothing happened for one second.Two.Then the tip of my thumb shifted.Barely. So embarrassing.“Good,” she said.Don’t patronize me with kindergarten praise, doctor.“Index finger.”I concentrated.My index finger moved more easily. It only bent slightly, but it moved.“Good. Now your middle finger.”Ah.My favorite.Finally, a task suited to my natural abilities.I tried.Nothing.I stared at the finger.Try again.No.A tiny twitch started at the base, then died before reaching the first joint.Dr. Keller wrote something on her tablet. I turned my head toward her.She stopped writing.Papa sighed beside me. “Don’t kill her.”My eyes moved to him.“Your recovery will take longer if we have to fly in another doctor from Zürich.”I blinked once.Disagree.The corner of his mouth moved.Dr. Keller looked between us. “What did that one blink mean?”“She wants to kill you,” Mama said as she picked up a warm cloth from the basin. “But don’t take it p

I looked toward the window.The light outside had changed. The sun was no longer white and high. Its color was warmer now, clinging to the glass and the flowers like watered-down honey.I didn’t know what time it was.I didn’t know if it was evening or just an afternoon that had grown tired.My eyelids lowered on their own.Mama was still discussing food with someone outside. The broth had to be strained twice. The chicken could not come from the hospital farm. Very little salt. No cream. The potatoes had to be mashed until not a single lump could be considered a threat.Papa remained seated beside me. His fingertips moved through my hair. Once from the crown of my head. Down to the back. Then back again.I closed my eyes.Sleep came without pulling me under.No black water filled my ears. No invisible hands dragged me down. My body no longer felt like something heavy abandoned at the bottom of the ocean.I was light.So strange.Like every bone had been removed one by one, cleaned, t

He stayed seated on the edge of the bed, lifted the glass to my lips, and let my two fingers remain curled into his shirt while I drank.The last of the water went down more easily.Zach pulled the straw away before I could take another sip, then set the glass on the table. His hand returned to my face, his thumb brushing slowly beneath my cheekbone, as if making sure I was still solid and wasn’t about to turn into expensive dust all over Mama’s Egyptian cotton sheets.“I’m finding out who screwed this up,” he said.I blinked. “At the club?”“Everywhere.”No doubt.Zach Romano never investigated one room. He was probably tearing apart three countries, two pharmaceutical companies, and someone’s childhood just to find out who bought the needle.“And before you ask,” he continued, “I’m not telling you anything.”I scoffed. My voice was still rough, but the sound came out with respectable quality. My body might have nearly died, but apparently my irritation had been given priority care.