Page 15 of Fallen Empire
She was fighting her way back.
I let out a breath and reached for her hand, careful and slow. My thumb brushed the inside of her wrist.
“I should’ve been here,” I said again, this time more to her than to Millie.
“You’re here now,” Millie said gently. “That’s what matters.”
Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t.
But it didn’t feel like enough. Not when I’d wasted four days convincing myself it was easier to break than to bend.
I leaned forward, resting my forearm gently on the edge of the mattress.
“I’m so damn proud of you,” I whispered. “You’ve always been stronger than me, haven’t you?”
Her fingers didn’t move, but I swore I felt the faintest tension there. Like her body was listening, even if her mind hadn’t caught up yet.
A throat cleared softly behind me.
I turned to see Ben leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, expression unreadable, but his eyes were on Millie.
“I can take you home,” he said, voice even. “Just for a little while. To shower. Eat. I’ll bring you right back.”
Millie didn’t move. “I’m fine.”
“You’ve been here for four days.”
She squared her shoulders. “And I’ll be here for forty more if I have to.”
Ben’s jaw ticked. “That’s not the point.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she snapped, her voice low but sharp. “Is there a limit to how long I’m allowed to care?”
“Millie—”
“No, really,” she cut in. “Because last I checked, I don’t answer to you.”
I shifted slightly, not wanting to interrupt, but not about to let this spiral either.
“Millie,” I said gently, “will you do it for me?”
She looked at me, startled.
“I haven’t talked to her in days,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I’ve been a selfish asshole. I need to be with her. Just the two of us. Just for a little while.”
Her expression softened—just a fraction. She looked back at Savannah, then over at Ben, like she was weighing the fight against the facts. But I hadn’t demanded when he did. I knewMillie, and she didn’t like to take orders from anyone. Not even me.
Finally, with a quiet sigh, she nodded.
“Okay,” she whispered. “But when they get ready to take her off the vent, you better call me.”
“I will,” I promised. And I would.
Ben opened the door for her, and she brushed past him with barely a glance. But even in silence, something passed between them. Something unfinished.
I didn’t call it out.
But I’d noticed it.
