Not yet. Don’t collapse now.
Straightening, I looked up at the starless sky. For the first time, Carson didn’t haunt my thoughts. Alice didn’t either.
Only survival.
Only freedom.
Then headlights cut through the darkness.
A sleek black car pulled up, stopping right in front of me. My heart lurched. I recognized that car instantly.
The window rolled down, revealing a face I hadn’t expected to see—a man with eyes like night, steady and unyielding. The one person besides my father I had dialed when desperation clawed at me.
“Get in,” he said, voice deep and certain. “This place is no longer safe for you.”
I hesitated. Trust was something fragile—shattered too many times to count.
But his gaze held no pity. No judgment.
Just resolve.
After a breath, I opened the door and slid inside. The door shut with a final thud, sealing off the past behind me.
The engine roared.
The hospital—its lies, its cruelty—grew smaller in the mirror.
Its glowing windows blurred into streaks of light.
And for the first time in a long time…
I felt like I could finally breathe.