I couldn't tear my eyes away from Evelyn's unconscious form. Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, the heart monitor's steady beeping the only reassurance she was still with us. The sterile hospital room felt suffocating despite its spaciousness.
"Juliana." Cameron Johnson's broken voice drew my attention.
He sat hunched in a chair beside Evelyn's bed, his usually immaculate appearance disheveled. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his hand trembled as it gripped his wife's limp fingers.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, guilt crushing my chest. "This is my fault."
Cameron didn't respond. He just stared at Evelyn with haunted eyes, occasionally brushing his thumb across her knuckles.
Through the partially open door, I could hear raised voices. Nathaniel had stepped outside to handle the commotion, leaving me alone with the man who had treated me with contempt my entire life and the woman who had just claimed to be my mother.
