She tried to sit up, but a cough bent her forward.
Sebastian crossed the room and reached for her.
Then stopped.
He did not know if he had the right.
Elena looked at his hand.
Then took it.
That broke him.
“I thought you were dead,” he whispered.
“I thought you let them erase us.”
The words hit harder because they were not angry.
They were tired.
Leo curled beside her.
Sebastian looked from mother to son.
Every detail felt unbearable.
Leo’s too-thin wrists.
Elena’s hollow cheeks.
The cheap blanket.
The flute on the bedside table.
All of it existed because somewhere, years ago, he had believed the wrong people.
“What happened?” he asked.
Elena closed her eyes.
“The accident happened after I came to tell you I was pregnant. I woke in a private hospital wing. Claire was there.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
“She said you blamed me for the crash. She said your father would take the baby. She said if I signed the papers, I could leave quietly and keep him.”
“What papers?”
“Settlement papers. Medical release. A statement saying I accepted money and cut all ties.”
“I never saw them.”
“She said you signed first.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“I was unconscious for three days.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“I know that now.”
Leo reached beneath the pillow and pulled out a folder wrapped in plastic.
“Mom said give him the blue one.”
Sebastian opened it.
Inside were letters.
Returned envelopes.
Hospital forms.
