LENA
The sound was hoarse. Weak. But it was mine.
I was the one who'd made it. I think I did, anyway. It barely scraped out of my throat, more breath than voice, but it was enough.
And suddenly, he was there.
Dom fell forward, forehead pressing against the back of my hand as his body shook with a sound I didn't recognize at first. A sob. Raw and unguarded. The kind you can't hold in when something breaks open inside you.
"I'm here," he choked out, his voice cracking on the words. "I'm right here, Lena."
My eyes felt like they weighed mountains, but I forced them open. Slowly. Each blink was a battle. But when my gaze found him—really found him—it was like the world knit itself back together.
He was blurry at first. Just color and warmth and scent. But then, clear as sunlight, Dom.
Alive. Real.
Safe.
I think I smiled. Just a little. It felt like the most effort I'd ever made, but I needed him to see it. To know I was still with him.
