The cream-colored folder struck the floor with a sharp slap.
I spun toward the doorway.
The nurse stood there holding a tray of medication, her eyes fixed on the monitor.
Its steady rhythm had accelerated into a rapid series of beeps.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“Nothing.
I was talking to him.”
She set the tray down and hurried to the bed.
Ethan’s finger was still curled toward mine.
The muscles beneath his eyelids fluttered as though he were fighting his way toward the surface of deep water.
The nurse touched his shoulder.
“Mr.
Thornton? Ethan, can you hear me?”
His face remained still.
She checked his pulse, shone a light near his eyes, then reached for the call button.
“Get Mrs.
Thornton,” she said into the intercom.
“Now.”
For one confused second, I thought she meant me.
Then Vivian entered, followed closely by Jason and my father.
Jason took one look at the monitor and stopped smiling.
“What happened?” Vivian asked.
The nurse did not look away from Ethan.
“He responded to her voice.”
Jason gave a short laugh.
“A muscle spasm isn’t a response.”
Ethan’s fingers tightened around mine.
Everyone saw it.
My father whispered my name, but I barely heard him.
Ethan’s eyelids lifted a fraction, revealing a thin line of gray beneath them.
The nurse leaned closer.
“Ethan, open your eyes.”
His breathing changed.
The effort seemed to move through his entire body.
His brow tightened, his throat worked, and then his eyes opened fully for the first time in nine months.
They did not turn toward Vivian.
They did not turn toward the nurse.
They found me.
Jason backed into the table.
The medication tray rattled.
Ethan stared at me with the disoriented terror of someone waking in an unfamiliar world.
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
I bent toward him.
“You’re safe,” I said, though I had no idea whether that was true.
His grip tightened.
The nurse began ordering everyone out.
Vivian obeyed immediately, pulling my father toward the hall.
Jason remained beside the table.
“This proves nothing,” he said.
“He opened his eyes.
That doesn’t mean he understands anything.”
Ethan’s gaze shifted to him.
The monitor jumped again.
Vivian’s expression hardened.
“Leave, Jason.”
“I’m the acting head of the company.”
