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“Lila,” I say finally.
She doesn’t answer at first. Just shifts, rolling onto her side so she’s facing away from me.
My jaw tightens.
I exhale, forcing patience. “Talk to me.”
She still doesn’t say anything, but I see the slight shake of her shoulders. The exhaustion in the way she curls in on herself.
Then, finally, in a voice so small I almost miss it, she whispers, “I need my mom.”
The words hit me harder than I expect.
Not because she’s demanding, not because she’s fighting me like she always does.
But because she’s not.
She’s just tired.
And for the first time, she’s actually asking me for something instead of shoving me away.
I don’t say anything. I just nod once and step out of the room.
I don’t trust myself to speak right now—not when I can still hear the exhaustion in her voice, not when I can still see the fear in her eyes from when she thought she was losing the babies. I walk down the hall, hands shoved into my pockets, pacing the length of the hospital corridor.
I don’t like this.
I don’t like feeling helpless, like there’s nothing I can do to make things right.
Lila has always fought me, but tonight…tonight, she just looked tired.
And I can’t stand it.
I roll my shoulders as I head down the dimly lit hallway. My pulse is still too fast, my mind too wired from everything that just happened.
I need air.
Outside, the night is cool and quiet, the hospital parking lot mostly empty, streetlights casting long shadows over the pavement. I pull my phone from my pocket and dial the number I never want to use, bringing it to my ear.
Evans picks up on the third ring.
“Didn’t expect to hear from you,” he says, gruff and amused, like this is some casual conversation.
I exhale sharply, already irritated. “I found her.”
Silence. Then?—
“Youwhat?” His voice drops low.
“You heard me,” I say, pacing slowly along the sidewalk. “I found Lila. She’s with me.”
A long pause. Too long.
Then he laughs, low and bitter.
My jaw clenches. “She was never going to be free from me.”
Evans snorts, clearly unimpressed. “And what, you called to gloat?”