The hospital room was white, sterile, and suffocatingly quiet.
Wayne stood at the window, staring out at the gray city below. The machines behind him beeped in a steady rhythm, a counterpoint to the chaos that had consumed his life for the past years. He had been here for three days, watching over the only family he had left.
"How is she?" Jude asked, entering the room quietly.
"The same. Stable, but not waking up." Wayne turned from the window, his eyes hollow. "The doctors say it's a matter of time. Either she wakes up, or she doesn't."
"She's strong. She'll pull through."
Wayne didn't answer. He couldn't. Because he knew the truth—Lucy had been shot protecting him. A bullet meant for him had found her instead. And now she was lying in a hospital bed, fighting for her life.
"I shou
