جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 64

Dr. Ferreira's office sat on the fourth floor of a quiet building near the park, all soft lighting and comfortable chairs, nothing about it carrying the sterile edge of the hospital rooms I'd spent so many weeks confined to. A small plant sat on the windowsill, slightly overgrown, and I'd found myself, over these past several sessions, watching it grow steadily wilder with a kind of quiet fondness, proof, somehow, that even neglected things could keep reaching toward the light if given enough patience. "How has this week been?" she asked, the same opening question she began every session with, her notebook resting open on her lap without ever seeming to demand my attention the way clinical paperwork usually did. "Better," I said, and found, increasingly, that I meant it. "The nightmares are still there. Maybe three or four times a week now instead of every night." "That's real progress, Lily." She made a small note. "Tell me about them, if you're comfortable. Have they changed at

Lara's lawyer tried a new angle the following day, his voice carrying the particular polished confidence of a man paid handsomely to make weak arguments sound stronger than they actually were."My client is prepared to accept a plea," he announced, "provided the charges are reduced to reflect diminished culpability and the sentence limited accordingly. Given the circumstances, and my client's cooperation in…""Denied." Marlowe's voice cut across the courtroom, sharp with barely restrained anger. "The prosecution has no interest in reduced charges for premeditated kidnapping, torture, and attempted murder. We intend to see this through to a full verdict."I watched from my seat beside Alexander as Lara's composed expression flickered, just slightly, the first real crack I'd witnessed in her carefully maintained calm since the trial began. Her lawyer leaned close to whisper something, and she waved him off with a small, irritated gesture, her eyes flicking briefly toward our side of the