Liam was in the hospital for two months. The day he was discharged, I went to pick him up. He was thinner, his face a mask of sullen depression. He had started relying on painkillers. My fear, a ghost from my past life, made me instinctively flinch away from him, which only fueled his dark mood.
The pain of losing his hands had already destroyed Liam, and my avoidance only fed his despair. He started lashing out at me, yelling, "You think I'm useless now, don't you? You want to leave me. No, you wanted to leave me even before this."
"Don't think I haven't seen you and your cousin Ethan making eyes at each other. Now that I'm a cripple, you can finally run off to him!"
The cousin he mentioned, Ethan Hayes, was family I'd been close to as a child. There was nothing romantic between us; before the accident, we barely even spoke. Liam had always been the only one for me.
During the argument, Liam lost control again. He smashed a lamp against the wall and began stalking toward me, his expression as twisted and cruel as it was in my memory. I backed away, my heart pounding, until my back hit the cold glass of the balcony door.
He stared at my hands, and the look in his eyes threatened to tear them to shreds. As I saw that menacing glare, a frantic thought screamed through my head.
This isn't right. None of this is right! Why was it happening sooner? Why couldn't I change a single damn thing?
If I get one more chance, I won't make the same mistake.
What does it feel like to fall thirty stories? The wind slashes at your skin like a thousand knives. The impact shatters you, glass and metal piercing your body. Skin and fabric ripped away. Your blood spills, and your memories flash.
One second, ten seconds. One year, five years, ten years.
My life replayed in an instant. Then, just as I'd somehow expected, I was reborn again.
This time, when I opened my eyes to see Liam kneeling before me with a cake and a necklace, I scrambled up and ran. I didn't even stop for shoes, scraping my leg on the stairwell in my haste.
I ignored Liam's frantic calls behind me and ran for my life. With nowhere else to go, I ran to Chloe's.
She was surprised to see me, barefoot and panicked. She glanced behind me. "Where's Liam?"
I told her everything—the rebirths, the murder, the loop. I begged her to help me. If things kept going this way, I was doomed.
Chloe listened, her expression unreadable. "Ava, maybe you've been under too much stress. You could be hallucinating."
I stared at her, my desperation silencing her doubt. Her faint smile faded. "You're... you're serious? You were really reborn?"
I convinced her. I told her exactly when Liam's accident would happen.
I hid at Chloe's place for four days.
Liam came looking for me twice. Both times, Chloe sent him away.
One afternoon, I was cooking when Chloe burst through the door, her eyes wide with fear. "Ava, Liam had an accident. I heard... they might have to amputate his right hand."
The spatula slipped from my grasp and clattered to the floor.
It happened anyway. Fate, it seemed, was immutable.
My parents called, scolding me for being heartless. How could I abandon Liam now, after he'd been so devoted to me?
After hanging up, I felt a deep, miserable chill. The world was pushing me, relentlessly, toward the same abyss.
I couldn't just sit here and wait to die.
Chloe's apartment was no longer safe. I used my alumni connections to secure a job as a music teaching assistant at a community college and applied for on-campus housing.
Liam and I had been star pupils. Our mentor had offered us teaching positions more than once, but we'd had grander plans and turned him down.
Now, I had no choice but to accept.
As a new TA, I was eligible for university housing. I moved in immediately, asking the other professors to keep my location confidential. I told them Liam and I had a bad fight and I needed space.
To my surprise, on my first day, I ran into my cousin, Ethan.
He'd joined the police force after graduation. After careful consideration, I decided to ask for his help.
There was no other reason—Liam would find me eventually, and I couldn't put Chloe in any more danger. Ethan was my only real option.
I grabbed his arm and told him the entire, insane story. I was prepared for him to laugh, to call a doctor. Who would believe in rebirth?
But he just met my gaze, his expression deadly serious. "Ava," he said, his voice firm. "I believe you."
He helped me rent a small apartment near his own and had his colleagues keep tabs on Liam's whereabouts, using the accident investigation as a pretext. I thought, finally, I was safe. But six months later, my fragile peace shattered.
The New Year's charity gala was approaching. I was at a hotel gathering with colleagues and students. The room was crowded, but I spotted him instantly. Liam. His right hand was perfectly fine.
He saw me, too. This time, there was no anger in his eyes, no hatred. Only shock, and then... relief. He strode toward me, wrapped me in a crushing hug, and yelled to the hotel security, "Call the doctor!"
