جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 247

AFTER THREE MONTHSThree months had passed since the night the tent collapsed.Three months since blood on the ground. Since sirens. Since fear sat in Karline’s chest like a stone.Now, the hospital corridors no longer felt terrifying. They felt familiar. Almost gentle.Reid had been discharged a month and a half ago after spending six long weeks under constant monitoring. The doctors had been cautious, especially about the head injury. But every follow-up visit brought better news.“The swelling has reduced significantly,” the neurologist had said during the last appointment. “His procedures and medications will taper down gradually. A few more months of care, and he should be fully recovered.”Karline had nearly cried from relief.Ethan was recovering too.Reid had changed.Not dramatically in loud ways, but quietly.Deeply.He and karline attended therapy sessions without complaint, not just physical therapy for his shoulder and balance, but counseling too. For their trauma. For th

THREE YEARS LATERTHIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEWThree years had passed.Life no longer felt like something they were surviving. It felt like something they were living. Slowly and peacefully.The little bell above the bakery door chimed as the last morning customer stepped out into the soft Italian sunlight. The street outside was calm, lined with flower pots and pale stone buildings that warmed under the sun. The scent of sugar and baked bread lingered in the air, sweet and comforting.Behind the counter stood Karline, tying a thin ribbon around a pastel pink box of pastries. A loose strand of hair had slipped from her bun, and there was flour faintly dusted along her apron. She looked content, not tired, not overwhelmed, just quietly fulfilled.“Mumma, all the blueberry muffins sold out?”She looked down immediately.Ethan stood in front of her, now eight years old, taller, leaner, with the same bright eyes and that wide, toothy smile that had somehow grown even more charming with time

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEWEthan had fallen asleep inside the farmhouse, curled under a thick blanket Isabella had tucked around him.Matteo and Isabella had long since gone in as well, leaving the yard bathed in moonlight and the faint orange glow of dying fire.The farm felt different at night.So still and silent now.Karline stood near the wooden fence, her fingers resting lightly on the cool surface. Beyond it, the fields stretched into darkness, silvered by the moon. A soft breeze moved through the grass.Reid stood a few steps behind her.He watched her quietly.There was something in his expression, not doubt, not regret, but a nervous weight.He swallowed once.He had rehearsed the words in his mind all evening.And yet now, standing under the open Italian sky, they felt heavier.He walked toward her slowly.Tired from the day.Content from the laughter.But carrying something fragile in his chest.KARLINE'S POINT OF VIEWI heard his footsteps before I saw him beside me.I di