Cherie's mind went blank.
Not confused.
Not overwhelmed.
Blank.
For a moment, it felt like her brain simply refused to process what her eyes were seeing.
Hale.
And Isabella.
Together.
Alive.
The sight rooted her to the floor harder than any punch ever could.
After Hailey, after Texas, after everything that had happened since the world ended, she had convinced herself some doors stayed shut forever.
Some people became memories.
Some families simply stopped existing.
Yet there they were.
The constant beeping of the machine beside Naomi seemed to fade into nothing.
The quiet conversations between nurses disappeared.
The smell of disinfectant vanished.
All of it drowned beneath the simple fact that they were here.
"Cherie."
The voice sounded distant.
Like someone speaking underwater.
"Cherie?"
A little closer this time.
"Are you okay?"
The world abruptly returned.
The beeping machine.
The fluorescent lights.
The smell of medicine.
The weight in her stomach.
