The rain had not stopped.
It fell in steady sheets against the hospital windows, blurring the world outside into something distant, unreachable. Inside, the air felt tighter—charged, unsettled.
The aftermath of chaos still lingered.
Doctors moved in and out of Emma’s room with controlled urgency. Security stood posted outside. The corridor had been cleared, restricted.
But tension—real tension—remained inside the room.
Emma sat propped against the bed, pale but composed. Her leg was still immobilized, her head bandaged, bruises faintly visible along her skin.
But her eyes—
Clear.
Awake.
Watching.
She wasn’t the same woman who had been brought in unconscious days ago.
That version of her—
Was gone.
*****
The door opened.
Heavy footsteps.
Dominic entered.
Not alone.
Two off
