Mara still hadn't woken up. Machines beeped rhythmically around her, the sterile scent of antiseptics heavy in the air. Her body remained still, bruises dark against her pale skin. Outside, Steve and Stefan spoke to the doctors, their voices low and tense.
Ethan knew this was his only chance.
Dressed in a stolen white coat, a surgical mask obscuring half his face, he slipped past the nurses, his hands clenched into fists inside his pockets. Each step toward her room felt like a countdown to disaster. If he got caught, Steve and Stefan would tear him apart.
Inside, his breath hitched. Seeing Mara so motionless, so fragile, shattered something in him. He shut the door behind him, locking it.
He fell to his knees beside her bed, gripping her cold fingers. "Mara… please," his voice cracked. "I swear—I'll do whatever you want. Just wake up. Yell at me, hate me, leave me, I don't care. Just open your eyes."
