Chapter 26
Three more days passed before the weakness from the second collapse fully eased.
I stayed in the apartment and moved carefully. Cole adjusted without making a show of it. He left meals that were easy to reheat and checked on me only when necessary. The silence between us settled into something almost comfortable. I still locked my bedroom door at night, but the sharp edge of constant fear had dulled.
That evening he came home with takeout and set it on the low table in the living room. I was already sitting on the couch with a blanket over my legs. He handed me a container and sat in the chair across from me.
We ate in silence for a while. It was not awkward. It simply existed.
After he finished, he leaned back and studied me with a calm expression.
“You look stronger,” he
