Chapter 9 - The First Movement
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Vanessa went completely, horrifyingly still.
Damian gripped the armrests of his wheelchair so hard the leather groaned under the pressure.
“For a fraction of a moment, I thought they actually moved,” he whispered.
Mia didn't hesitate. She immediately knelt on the hardwood floor beside his chair. She carefully reached out and pulled back the heavy wool blanket covering his feet.
“Would you like to try again, sir?” she asked gently.
Damian stared intensely at his left foot. He closed his eyes, his face contorting with sheer, agonizing concentration. He was trying to send a signal through a pathway that had been supposedly dead for years.
For ten seconds, nothing happened. The room was suffocating.
Then, slowly, miraculously, his smallest toe twitched.
It was barely a millimeter of movement. But it undeniably moved.
Mia covered her mouth with both hands, tears springing to her eyes. “Oh my God…”
Damian opened his eyes and stared at his foot in absolute, raw disbelief. He had just defied three years of medical science in a single second.
Vanessa stumbled backward until her back hit the wall.
“No…” she whispered.
It was so quiet that neither of them should have heard her. But Damian did.
He slowly turned his head toward his fiancée.
“Why did you say that?” Damian asked.
Vanessa shook her head frantically, her blonde hair flying around her face. “I didn't say anything.”
“Yes, you did.” His voice became significantly colder, dripping with sudden, dark realization. “You didn't look surprised that I moved my foot, Vanessa.”
Vanessa's eyes darted nervously toward the bedroom door, clearly calculating an escape route.
“You looked terrified,” Damian stated.
Before Vanessa could formulate another lie, Mia noticed something strange beneath the silver medication tray on the table.
A small, plain white envelope.
It had slipped partly out from beneath the heavy glass bottles when Vanessa had snatched the towel earlier.
Mia reached out and picked it up. On the front of the envelope was a hasty, handwritten instruction.
May you like
FOR VANESSA ONLY.
Without asking permission, Mia tore it open.
