[Author's POV]
The doctor's ultimatum stayed in the air like a heavy fog: "The first person he sees, the first voice he hears—that becomes his new foundation." It was the final night of the second day. The medical team had dialed back the sedation to 0%, and now it was just a countdown. The "System" was hovering in the thin space between the void and reality.
Jay didn't move. She didn't eat. She sat in the chair, her hand white-knuckled as she gripped Keifer's, watching his every breath on the monitor.
Day Two: The Final Night
[Jay's POV]
"Tomorrow, Keif," I whispered, leaning so close that my breath fanned his cheek. "The doctors say you'll open your eyes tomorrow. But they're worried. They think you won't remember the 'Data' of us."
I looked at his still, handsome face. He looked peaceful, but I knew his mind was a battlefield of scrambled code.
"I don't care if you don't remember the merger deals or the bank accounts. But you have to remember the feeling of my hand in yours. You have to remember that when the world is at 0%, I'm the one who brings you back to 100%."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out his wedding ring—the one the nurses had taken off before surgery. I slipped it onto his ring finger, the gold cool against his skin.
"First impression, Keif. When you wake up, I'm going to be the only thing you see. No machines, no doctors. Just me. Your Constant."
[Bridget's POV: The Change]
I stood by the door, watching her. Old Bridget would have been planning how to slide into that room and make myself the first thing he saw. I would have tried to rewrite history to make me the hero.
But as I looked at Jay—exhausted, bruised, yet standing like a queen over her King—I felt a surge of something I hadn't felt in years: Loyalty.
I stepped toward the nursing station, my voice quiet but firm. "I want a 1,000% lockdown on this wing tonight. No janitors, no shift changes, no 'accidental' entries. Jay stays in that room alone with him. If anyone tries to breach the perimeter before he wakes up, they answer to me."
I wasn't the rival anymore. I was the guard dog. I owed Jay a son, a life, and a future. Protecting this "Reboot" was the only way I could start to balance the scales.
The Pre-Reboot Status
[Jay's POV]
03:00 AM. The quietest hour.
I felt Keifer's pulse under my thumb. It was getting stronger, more rhythmic. He was fighting the darkness.
"I'm here, Hubby," I murmured, my eyes burning with sleep deprivation but refusing to close. "I'm the first page of your new book. Just follow the light. Follow the Glow."
I laid my head on the mattress next to his hand, counting his heartbeats. I was ready. The "First Impression" was going to be love—pure, 1,000% Watson love