SERAPHINA "Sera" MORTEZ'S POINT OF VIEW
"Daddy... when will Mommy wake up?"
"I miss her... Daddy Lucian..."
Is this real, or just my mind playing tricks? Did I really hear that? Did my children just call their father by the name he was always meant to have?
I can't move a muscle. Every part of me feels heavy, as if weighted down by stone. I want to look at them, to reach out and touch their small hands-anything to make sure I'm not hallucinating. But my eyelids won't open, my fingers won't wiggle. All I can do is listen.
Listen to their voices, clear and bright even through the fog in my head. Listen to the steady beep of the monitor beside my bed, counting out seconds like heartbeats.
It feels like I've been trapped like this forever-a nightmare I can't wake from, full of shadows I never want to face again. I want to open my eyes. I want to see the people I thought I'd lost, to breathe in the scent of their hair and feel their warmth against my skin.
