“Thank you for everything, Cole.”

    Cole shook his head, dark circles under his eyes and exhaustion etched across his face, but there was still an unwavering resolve in his gaze.

    “Try to get some rest. If you copse right when Lessie wakes up, what will I do with you?” Karen said, her voice gentle and full of concern. “I’ll go home and make some nourishing soup for you. Just look at yourself you’re worn to the bone. If Lessie wakes up and sees you like this, it’ll only make her feel worse.”

    She reached up to ruffle his hair, the gesture tender and maternal, her eyes brimming with worry.

    “I’m alright, Aunt Karen. I feel calmer sitting with Lessie,” Cole replied softly. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in days.

    Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Alessia as she’d been carried out from the wreckage. Each time he startled awake, his hands would tremble, and only by her side, watching the erratic lines on the monitor and her pale face, did he find the strength to steady himself.

    Karen and Brendan knew better than anyone how deep the bond between Cole and Alessia ran, how much they had supported each other to make

    it this far.

    So they didn’t try to talk him out of his vigil. Instead, they did what little they could–bringing him food, coaxing him to eat, trying to help him regain some strength.

    It was all they could do.

    Xander, too, arrived in his usual blustery way–walking in and delivering a sharp whack to Cole’s shoulder, startling Karen and Brendan. Cole simply took the blow withoutint, his face docile and quietly enduring.

    “You, of all people! Something this serious happens and you don’t even think to tell me! Am I just some old relic you can ignore?” Xander’s eyes

    13

    were red–rimmed, his voice gruff with usation, but underneath was nothing but aching concern.

    “I’m sorry, Grandpa,” Cole murmured, not offering excuses or exnations, just bowing his head. He looked so young and so heartbreakingly fragile.

    Xander shook his head and went to the window, gazing at Alessia lying motionless in her hospital bed.

    “How much more does this girl have to endure?” he muttered. “When she wakes up, I’m going to give her a talking–to. She should be living a carefree life, taking over my old practice, enjoying herself–instead, she insists on taking the weight of the world on those little shoulders.”

    Karen and Brendan exchanged a look, lips pressed tight.

    They shared Xander’s feelings, but they knew Alessia too well; she was never going to be the kind of child content to let life pass her by. She had ambition, grit, and a determination that nothing could shake. Even if she had to live through this a hundred times, she’d make the same choices–only next time, she’d be even better prepared.

    That was Alessia: never backing down, always stepping forward to shield others, never mind that she was still just a girl herself.

    Everyone believed she would wake up. Still, seeing her so still, so lifeless, left a hollow ache in their hearts.

    The Alessia they knew was vibrant, strong, self–assured–always the one who made you want ito /ifollow her lead. She was a wild rose, thorns and all, never meant to be lying pale and motionless in a hospital bed.

    Six, Tristan, Eddie Chase, Esme… Every day, friends came to visit, but hospital rules meant none of them could stay long.

    Only Cole remained, keeping his vigil for three days straight outside the ICU. Even Larkin had to bring his reports to the hospital just to keep Cole updated.

    Thankfully, Alessia’s condition finally stabilized.

    1222

    When she was transferred to a regr room, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

    Xander and Zachary rushed in the moment they were allowed, checking her pulse and assuring everyone she was out of danger. Only then did they start discussing what remedies to brew to help her recover when she woke.

    They all gathered quietly outside the room, speaking in hushed voices so as not to disturb Alessia’s rest, unwilling to leave even when the nurse

    came to shoo them away.