City General Hospital - Room 407
The silence in the hospital room was suffocating.
Kalina sat on the edge of her bed, bandaged head bowed, feeling the weight of five furious stares and four very concerned ones.
Her father stood at the front of the group, arms crossed, his face that particular shade of red that meant someone was about to get lectured.
"So," Mr. Levesque said, his voice dangerously calm. "Let me make sure I understand this correctly."
Kalina winced.
"You were in a car accident on Saturday night. Four days ago. You were hospitalized. Injured badly enough to require stitches and observation." He paused. "And you deliberately told the medical staff you had amnesia so you wouldn't have to contact your family?"
"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad—"
"It IS bad, Kalina!" Mrs. Levesque burst out, tears streaming down her face. "We thought—we didn't know if you were alive or dead! Do you have any idea what we've been going through?!"
"I'm sorry, Mother, I just—"
"You just what?" Lyra cut in, her voice sharp. "Decided to take a vacation in a hospital while your entire family panicked? While we searched the city for you? While Mireille thought something terrible had happened?"
Mireille crossed her arms. "You missed two board meetings, Kal. Two. I had to cover for you without knowing where the hell you were."
"I'm sorry—"
"And you!" Mr. Levesque turned his attention to Rhys, who'd been trying very hard to blend into the furniture. "Mr. Castillon. You're the one who brought her here?"
Rhys straightened in his chair. "Yes, sir. I witnessed the accident. I pulled her from the vehicle and called the ambulance. I rode with her to ensure she received proper care."
"And in four days, it didn't occur to you to contact her family?"
Rhys's jaw tightened. "She told me she didn't want to be contacted. I respected her wishes."
"She told you she had amnesia!"
"She told the hospitalstaff she had amnesia," Rhys corrected carefully. "She told me she didn't want her family contacted. There's a difference."
All eyes turned back to Kalina.
"You told him not to contact us?" Lyra's voice could cut glass.
Kalina fidgeted with the edge of her hospital blanket. "I... may have indicated that I preferred some time alone to recover without... interference."
"Interference?!"
"Okay, okay, bad word choice—"
"Kalina Genevieve Levesque." Her father's voice dropped to that terrifying quiet tone. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't ground you like a teenager right now."
"I'm twenty-eight—"
"I don't care if you're forty! You're living under my roof—"
"Actually, I have my own apartment—"
"That I PAY FOR!"
Kalina shut her mouth.
Atticus, who'd been silent until now, cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should let her explain. There must be a reason she... made these choices."
Everyone turned to look at Kalina expectantly.
She took a deep breath.
"I was tired," she said quietly.
"Tired," her father repeated flatly.
"Yes. Tired. Exhausted. Overwhelmed." She looked up, meeting their eyes. "I know I usually just... float through life. Lazy Kalina, right? But the past two weeks have been insane."
Her father's eyebrows rose. "Two weeks?"
"I've been doing more in the past two weeks than I usually do in two months."
Lyra crossed her arms. "So you decided a hospital stay was a vacation?"
"When I woke up here, in pain, with no phone, no obligations, no one demanding anything from me... it was the first peace I'd had since this whole circus started." Kalina's voice cracked slightly. "So yes, I lied. Yes, I told them I had amnesia. Yes, I took four days to just... breathe. And I'm sorry I worried you, but I needed the break."
Mrs. Levesque wiped her eyes. "Kalina... baby, if you were that overwhelmed, you should have told us—"
"Would you have listened?" Kalina asked softly. "Or would Father have said I was being dramatic since I 'don't do anything anyway'?"
Her father's expression shifted uncomfortably.
"That's what I thought," Kalina said quietly.
Silence hung in the room for a long moment.
From the doorway, Ophelia spoke up quietly. "Kal... what happened? The accident. How did it happen?"
Kalina's expression darkened. "Hit and run. Someone shot out my tire while I was driving. The car flipped."
"What?!" Multiple voices shouted at once.
"Someone shot at you?!" Mireille grabbed the bed railing.
"Not at me. At the car. The tire, specifically."
Kalina looked at Ophelia. "I was driving your car, remember?"
Ophelia's face went pale. "My... my car?"
"White Mercedes. Your car." Kalina's eyes were serious now. "I think whoever did this was aiming for you, Ophe. Not me."
The room erupted into chaos.
Meanwhile, in the corner, Maxi caught Rhys's eye.
Rhys looked exhausted, traumatized, and like he'd been through hell.
Maxi raised an eyebrow: We need to talk.
Rhys nodded slightly: Later.
Because clearly, there was a much bigger story here than anyone realized.