The ICU room was quiet in the way only hospitals could manage. Machines hummed softly, a steady monitor beep marking time.
Fragile. Alive.
Pierce Reed lay in the hospital bed, pale beneath the sheets, chest bandaged and rising shallowly with each breath. Tubes traced careful paths from his body to the machines beside him. His eyes were open but unfocused, heavy with medication and effort.
Cade sat in the chair beside the bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. One hand wrapped gently around Pierce’s. He had not slept. He was not planning to.
Pierce blinked slowly, studying Cade like he was trying to remember the shape of him.
“Hey,” Pierce said. His voice was quiet, slurred.
Cade smiled instantly, like he had been waiting for that word all day. “Hey yourself.”
Pierce fro
