Jason's POV
I stood outside the double doors of the cardiac unit, hands braced against the cold pane of glass, as if I pressed hard enough, I could push through and take her place. Inside, machines hummed and beeped in their steady, merciless rhythm, surrounding a small figure that looked breakable under all those wires and tubes.
Ava.
The brave little girl who'd tugged on my sleeve weeks ago, insisting I help her find a stuffed rabbit. The girl who'd looked at me with eyes too wise for her years, eyes so familiar it had nearly stopped my heart.
Now those same eyes were closed, her lashes dark against her pale cheeks, her chest rising faintly beneath the weight of oxygen and monitors.
Something primal and furious roared inside me, demanding blood. Brittany had done this. My supposed
