Chapter Twenty-One
I started counting the seconds.
I don’t know why.
Maybe I thought if I could measure the time between each moment I felt it—
that quiet presence—
I could somehow control it.
One second.
Two.
Three—
There.
A faint shift in my chest.
Not pain.
Not even discomfort.
Just… awareness.
Like someone standing just outside a door, not knocking—just existing.
Watching.
Waiting.
I exhaled slowly, pressing my fingers against my temple.
“Still there?” Ethan asked from across the room.
He hadn’t left.
Not once.
Not even when I told him I’d be fine.
“I told you, you don’t have to stay,” I said, glancing at him.
“I know,” he replied simply.
That was it.
No argument.
No explanation.
Just that.
And somehow, that made it worse.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “That’s the pr
