Kianna's POV
The nurse's footsteps faded down the hall, leaving the dorm room in a heavy silence broken only by Lesley's soft breathing as she dozed in her chair. My head throbbed like a distant drum, the world still tilting slightly on its axis.
Lysander sat there, forehead still pressed to the blanket and his quiet sobs were the only sound cutting through the haze.
I stared at him, trying to make sense of the boy who'd become a stranger, now here like nothing had changed.
"Lys," I whispered again, my voice rough from the water I'd swallowed, from the screams that had echoed in my mind as I slipped under. "What... what are you doing here?"
He lifted his head slowly, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve. His eyes were swollen, red, the kind of rawness that came from hours of crying, not minutes.
"I saw you," he said, voice thick with emotion.
