A heavy silence fell between them.
Darla reached out to touch Alex's arm. "Sweetheart, tell us the truth… Did you follow her?"
Alex stared at her. For a flicker of a second, his mask slipped.
Then it returned.
"No," he said tightly. "I didn't."
But Derek was already pulling out his phone. "I'm going to check every security feed between Morris's house and that accident site. And if I find anything... you better start praying she doesn't wake up."
Alex didn't respond. He just stormed out of the dining hall, his heart pounding.
In the silence that followed, Darla looked helplessly at Derek. "You don't know for sure."
Derek didn't look at her.
He just muttered under his breath.
"God help us if she wakes up and remembers."
__________________________
The occasional beep from Emma's heart monitor. She lay motionless on the hospital bed, her face partially bandaged, her arm suspended in a sling, and bruises on her usually flawless skin.
