The torn paper hit the wet grass.
A piece with the bright yellow sun landed in a puddle. Another scrap, showing Liam’s unfinished face, fluttered toward the edge of the overlook.
I didn’t think. I forgot my legs were dead weight.
I lunged forward out of my wheelchair, desperate to catch the paper before the wind took it. My hands grabbed for the mud. My fingernails dug into the wet grass, scraping against dirt and roots.
"Don't touch it!" I rasped.
Priscilla took a step back, her eyes wide with fake horror. Then she crushed one of the paper scraps beneath the heel of her boot.
Footsteps pounded behind us.
"Sierra! What are you doing?"
Evan was back. He threw his umbrella aside and dropped to his knees. But he didn't reach for me to help me up. He grabbed my wrists, twisting my arms behind my back to pin me down.
"Evan, she snapped!" Priscilla shrieked, backing away with tears spilling down her cheeks. "I just told her I felt sorry for her, and she tried to push me! She tried to throw me over the railing!"
"I didn't touch her," I choked out, gasping for air. "My son's drawing. Evan, let me go! She tore Liam's drawing!"
"Stop it, Sierra! Enough!" Evan's voice was loud and harsh in my ear.
He hauled me up by my armpits and shoved me roughly back into the wheelchair. His grip was bruising. He didn't even look at the torn paper in the mud. He looked at Priscilla.
"Are you okay?" Evan asked her. He reached out with one hand, gripping Priscilla’s arm to steady her trembling shoulders.
"I'm so scared, Evan," Priscilla sobbed, leaning into his side. "She's lost her mind."
I reached over the armrest again, my fingers stretching toward the scrap of paper near the wheel. "Give it back to me. Evan, please, just the paper—"
"I said calm down!" Evan barked.
He jerked back to push me away from Priscilla. His hip slammed hard against the metal handle of my wheelchair.
The ground beneath the back wheels was soft from the rain. The slope was steep. The stone railing at the overlook was low and cracked from years of winter frost.
The wheel caught on a loose slab of slate.
The chair tilted.
Time slowed down to a crawl. My center of gravity shifted violently backward.
I looked at Evan.
His eyes widened in sudden, stark terror. His mouth opened to scream my name. But his right hand was still clamped tight around Priscilla’s coat sleeve, holding her safe.
He didn't let go of her to grab me.
The metal wheel cleared the stone ledge. The cold air rushed up behind my neck.
Then came the drop.
I fell backward into the ravine.
Rocks tore through my coat. Tree branches whipped across my face, snapping with loud cracks. My skull hit something hard and unyielding—a boulder hidden in the brush.
White light exploded behind my eyes.
Then came the dark.
***
The steady beep of a heart monitor brought me back.
The smell hit me first. Bleach, rubbing alcohol, and dried blood.
I tried to breathe, but a sharp, stabbing pain flared through my left side. Broken ribs. My right arm was immobilized in a thick cast. A heavy bandage wrapped tight around my forehead, pressing down on a dull, throbbing ache.
My dead legs were still numb. Nothing had changed there.
"Sierra?"
A hand covered mine. It was warm, familiar, and suffocating.
I turned my head slowly on the pillow. Every muscle in my neck screamed in protest.
Evan sat in the plastic chair beside my bed. His tie was undone. His eyes were bloodshot, surrounded by dark purple bruises of exhaustion. Stubble coated his jaw. He had buried his face against my bedsheet, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
It was the exact same performance he had put on three years ago, right after the kidnapping. The devoted husband. The broken father.
I remembered crying into his chest back then, believing we shared the same grief.
Now, I only felt a cold, empty calm.
I looked at him the way a surgeon looks at an open wound. He wasn't my husband. He wasn't the man I had loved. He was just a threat. A predator sitting in the daylight.
Evan looked up, his face streaked with tears. "You're awake. Oh God, Sierra, you're awake. The doctors said you had internal bleeding. A fractured arm, cracked ribs, a severe concussion. I thought I lost you."
I didn't answer. I didn't blink.
"It was an accident," he whispered, squeezing my fingers so hard it hurt. "You know that, right? Priscilla was just startled. The ground gave way. I tried to catch you, baby. I swear I tried."
The lie rolled off his tongue without a single crack.
"Water," I croaked. My throat felt like sandpaper.
Evan jumped up quickly, eager to please. He poured water into a small plastic cup and held the straw to my dry lips. I took two tiny sips, just enough to moisten my tongue, then turned my head away.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his jaw tightened.
"It's the board," he muttered, running a hand over his face. "And Priscilla. The press found out about the fall. Reporters are gathering outside the main entrance. I have to go downstairs and handle them."
"Go," I whispered.
Evan leaned down. He kissed my forehead, right below the white gauze. His lips felt clammy against my skin.
"I'll be right back, honey," he promised softly. "I won't leave you. I'm going to take care of you forever."
He turned and walked out of the room. The heavy wooden door clicked shut behind him.
The room fell completely silent, save for the rhythmic chime of the monitor.
I didn't waste a second.
Ignoring the burning pain in my ribs, I used my good left hand to reach for the bedside table. My fingers found the hospital drawer. Inside, tucked beneath a paper menu, was my personal phone.
I powered it on. My hand shook, but my thumb pressed the call button on the single contact saved in the log.
It picked up before the first ring finished.
"Sierra?" Brendan's voice came through the speaker, tight and trembling with pure fury. "I saw the news. Are you alive?"
"I'm alive," I said. My voice was low, clear, and colder than ice. "Bring the jet, Brendan. It's time."