And then—
Something impossible happened.
His left foot moved.
Just slightly.
Barely noticeable.
But unmistakably real.
The courtroom exploded.
“What just happened?”
“He moved!”
“No, that’s not possible!”
Mercer stared downward in shock.
His breath quickened.
He tried again.
His right foot shifted.
This time stronger.
A ripple of sound passed through the room like a wave breaking.
Ellie stepped back quickly, as if giving space to something unfolding inside him.
Mercer’s hands gripped the armrests.
“What did you do?” he whispered.
Ellie answered softly.
“I reminded your nerves how to listen.”
The judge shook his head.
“No… no, this is—this is impossible…”
But even as he spoke, something long-dormant inside his body flickered awake.
His toes moved.
Then his ankles.
Then a slow, trembling contraction in his calves.
The courtroom was no longer laughing.
No one was.
Daniel Whitaker stood halfway from his seat.
“Ellie… what are you doing?”
She turned toward him for the first time.
Her eyes softened.
“I told you I would help him walk again.”
Daniel’s voice broke.