The day Ela finally broke was the day her parents humiliated her in front of Mira once again.
This time it was worse insults, taunts, and a beating so violent that even Zius hid behind a door, trembling.
And Mira…
she stood with her arms crossed, smiling in that small, satisfied way.
Every insult landed like a gift to her.
Ela staggered away afterward, dizzy, vision blurring at the edges. She tried to reach the washroom just to breathe, just to be alone for a moment. The world around her spun like a tilted room. Her legs buckled.
Before she could call out, her body gave way.
She slipped hard her spine striking the edge of the marble step. A crack, a flash of pain, and then everything went numb.
Her body refused to listen to her.
She could not move her legs.
Her arms felt distant.
Her breath came shallow and thin.
The last thing she heard was her parents shouting her name in panic
voices shaking, terrified
and Mira's sharp gasp from behind them.
Then darkness closed around her.
Hours later, the doctors' voices floated through the fog:
"Spinal trauma."
"Lower body paralysis."
"She may never walk again."
Mira was the only one who did not cry.
Her smile, faint and hidden, flickered for just a second.