Hailey's POV
Kingsley's eyes snapped open.
The movement was sudden enough that it startled me back a step, my breath catching painfully in my throat. One second, he had been motionless, suspended in that fragile in-between state where machines and medicine decided whether a man stayed or went. The next, his gaze cut through the dim room, sharp and alert, as if he'd been pulled violently to the surface.
For a heartbeat, he looked lost.
His pupils were blown wide, breath shallow, chest rising too fast beneath the sheets. His eyes darted once, twice, taking in the ceiling, the lights, the unfamiliar stillness of the room. The hand beneath mine tightened reflexively, fingers curling as though he were reaching for something solid.
For that fleeting second, he looked human.
T
