The sound did not just return—it swallowed everything in the room, stretching across the monitor in a cold, unbroken line that refused to bend again. It came back louder this time, sharper, as though it had claimed the space for itself and would not let go. For a brief moment, no one moved, no one spoke, because the shift was too sudden, too brutal to process. They had just pulled her back from the edge. They had seen the faint rhythm. They had believed it.
And now it was gone again.
Sebastian stood beside her without moving, his hand still wrapped tightly around hers as though holding on could anchor her back. The faint warmth he thought he felt moments ago slipped away under his grip, leaving behind something colder, something that did not belong to life. His chest tightened, his breathing uneven now, no longer controlled.
"No…" he said, but this time the word came out broken, like something inside him had cracked open.
