Ethan POV
My hands shook as I waited in the fluorescent-lit hallway of the police station, the world around me blurring into the hollow thud of my own heartbeat. I had imagined this moment a thousand times in the last three weeks—each hope-filled vision dissolving into dread and sleepless nights. When the door finally opened and Julia stepped through, gaunt but unmistakably herself, I forgot how to breathe.
For a split second, I just stared, afraid that if I moved too quickly, she might vanish again. Then she saw me, her face crumpling as she broke into a run, and suddenly I was holding her—really holding her—her body trembling in my arms. Relief crashed over me, so fierce it stole my breath. I pressed my face into her hair, repeating her name like a prayer. Every ache, every fear, every
