**[Grace Free Clinic – ICU, Two Days Later]**
The hum of machines was the only sign Nathan was still alive.
Beep.
Pause.
Beep.
Each sound landed like a countdown Aileen didn't ask for.
She sat by the bedside, arms crossed tightly over the blanket someone had draped over her shoulders. Her body was healing—but her mind hadn't caught up. She hadn't slept. Not really.
Nathan stirred.
Barely.
Eyes fluttered. Then closed again.
Aileen stood slowly. “Hey," she whispered. “You with me?"
Nothing.
She sat again. Quietly. Watching the man who had stolen five years of her life, now laying here—pale, defenseless, broken.
It should have satisfied her.
But it didn't.
---
**[Flashback – One Year into Prison]**
Aileen stared at the small window above her bunk.
Another inmate snored on th
