Calm.
The word felt almost cruel.
“Can she be moved?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then this hospital becomes secure.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Mr. Mercer—”
“No press. No unauthorized visitors. No calls transferred to this room unless you approve them. I’ll pay for private nursing, additional security, anything the hospital allows.”
“You may arrange security outside the room,” she said. “But you do not get to control her medical care.”
“I’m not trying to control her.”
Dr. Bennett looked from me to Emily, then back again.
“Good. Because when she wakes up, the decisions are hers.”
I nodded.
That sentence landed deeper than she could have known. Three months ago, I had made the greatest decision of Emily’s life without giving her the truth. I had told myself I was protecting her from the consortium circling Mercer Holdings, from threats buried in financial records, from men who had once used family members as leverage. I had believed that if I severed her from my name, she would be safer.
Instead, I had made her easier to isolate.
When Dr. Bennett left, Marcus came closer.
“I have men watching every entrance.”
“Discreetly?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“There’s something else.” He hesitated. “Your mother called my office twice.”
I looked up.
“She asked where you were?”
“No. She asked where Emily was.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
“She knows.”
“Maybe. Or she’s guessing.”
My phone began vibrating before I could answer.
The screen showed a name I had not called in ninety-three days.
Mother.
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
I let it ring until it stopped.
Thirty seconds later, a message appeared.
Lucas, call me before you make a mistake you cannot repair.