That revelation puts a smile on my face. Then Ayden’s body gives a hard jerk, and I’m yanked back to reality.

“Wake up, Ayden,” Dr. Gardingdale says, rushing up to the side of the bed. “You need to wake up.”

Ayden’s body spasms and his eyelids start fluttering as if he’s trying to wake up, but can’t get his eyes open. Then the heart monitor starts beeping and panic skyrockets through my body as my worst fears are right in front of me.

“Open your eyes, Ayden . . . Please . . .” I beg, gripping onto his hand.

Please don’t let me lose him.

Don’t take him away from me.

Just let me close my eyes

And pretend this is all a dream.

Dr. Gardingdale tells me to move out of the way, and I sink down in the chair. I’ve read information about this treatment, and my mind races with all the horrible things that could potentially happen. He could go into shock. Suffer from heart failure. Or worse, completely lose his memory,

What if he forgets everything?

Everything is moving in fast motion as the doctor starts talking medical talk while he injects something into Ayden’s IV. I try to stay calm like Fiona said, but then the word “coma” comes out of the doctor’s mouth and something inside me shatters. Tears stream out of my eyes as I slip out of the room to call Aunt Lila, knowing it’s the right thing to do.

“Wait, Lyric, slow down,” she says as I sputter out what happened. “I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

I take a few measured breaths, trying to pull myself together. “A-Ayden did the treatment—the one you d-didn’t want him to do. We’re at a doctor’s office down on First and Peach Way Lane. You need to get down here.”

“He did what?” she exclaims. “Lyric, please, tell me he’s okay.”

“Just get down here, okay?” I tell her as the door behind me opens. Dr. Gardingdale steps out and motions for me to come back in. My chest tightens and air is ripped from my lungs. “Is he okay?” I ask him.

He nods. “You can come back in if you want to.”

“Lyric, put Dr. Gardingdale on the phone,” she demands before I hang up.

“Okay.” My fingers tremble as I hand the phone to Dr. Gardingdale. “Ayden’s mom wants to talk to you.”

Sighing, he takes the phone and starts reassuring Aunt Lila that Ayden’s all right.

I squeeze by him, rush into the room, and relief washes over me. “You’re awake.” Tears pour out of my eyes at the sight of him sitting on the bed as the doctor checks his heart rate.

Ayden’s bloodshot eyes widen at the sight of my tears. “Lyric, I swear I’m fine.” He opens his arms, indicating for me to come to him. “Please, stop crying. I hate seeing you cry.”

Against the doctor’s protests, I climb into the bed beside Ayden and rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I’m not going anywhere unless I have to,” I tell the doctor. “So you might as well continue checking him.”

The doctor sighs. “Fine. Just take it easy on him until I can check all of his vitals.”

I nod and press my body closer to Ayden, breathing in his scent and warmth. “I thought you weren’t going to wake up.”

He rubs his hand up and down my back, tracing the length of my spine. “For a moment, I thought the same thing too.” His voice cracks and he clears his throat. “But I’m okay now. Everything’s okay.”

I push to my elbows and peer up at him, trying to read his vibe. “Did it . . . Did it work?”

His gaze welds with mine as he nods. “I saw the house . . . I saw them.”

I suck in a sharp breath. “You saw the people who took you?”

He nods again. “I saw the woman who . . .” He blinks down at the scars on his hands then looks back at me. “And I saw my father . . . Saw him . . .” He swallows hard. “Kill my mom.”

I stop breathing, and for the first time in my life, I’m speechless. My poor, sweet Shy Boy. Why does he have to keep going through so much pain? He’s already been through so much already.

He brushes my hair out of my eyes. “I’m okay. I don’t want you to worry about me . . . Everything’s going to be okay now.” He traces his fingers across my jawline. “I just really want to go talk to the detective.”

“Your mother can drive you down there just as soon as I make sure you’re one hundred percent okay,” Dr. Gardingdale says as he enters the room, shutting the door behind him.