Hazel couldn’t speak. The doctors had warned her: no talking, no smiling, no sudden movements that might strain the fresh grafts. Her face was wrapped in bandages, her jaw wired shut in a way that made even swallowing uncomfortable. But her eyes were as bright as little suns as she looked at the people gathered around her bed.

Her parents stood closest, Jenna’s hand gently holding hers. Leo and Bella were nearby, Bella’s face soft with relief. Jay and Jace hovered near the foot of the bed.

And Dominique stood at the head of the bed, his dark eyes fixed on Hazel’s face. His smile was deep, warm and almost tender.

"If you have anything to say," Dominique announced, "tell me with your eyes. I can be your translator."

Jay’s face lit up. "Oh, this is going to be amazing. I have so many questions."

Jace crossed his arms. "You can’t translate eye movements."

"Watch me," Dominique said.

Jay leaned forward eagerly. "Okay, first question. How are you feeling, Hazel?"

Dominique turned to Hazel. She blinked slowly—once, twice. Then she looked at Jay with calm eyes.

Dominique cleared his throat dramatically. "She says, I feel like someone used my face as a punching bag, but I’m alive, so I’ll take it."

Hazel’s eyes widened. She hadn’t blinked anything like that.

Jay nodded seriously. "That’s rough."

Dominique continued, getting into character. "She also says, ’Jay, you’re standing too close. I can see the crumb on your shirt from breakfast.’"

Jay looked down. There was a small crumb on his shirt. He brushed it off quickly. "How did she—"

"Her eyes are very expressive," Dominique said.

Hazel stared at Dominique in disbelief. She had blinked nothing of the sort. She had blinked "I’m fine" and "Jay is being loud." That was it.

Jace narrowed his eyes. "You’re making this up."

"I’m interpreting," Dominique said smoothly.

"You’re making things up."

"Same thing."

Jenna squeezed Hazel’s hand. "Sweetheart, is any of this true?"

Hazel blinked once slowly. Then she looked at Dominique with an expression that clearly said "no."

"She says," Dominique translated, "Jace is suspicious of everyone. It’s his best quality."

Jace’s jaw dropped. "I am not—"

"He’s translating," Leo said from the corner, his voice dry. "Let him translate."

Bella bit her lip, trying not to laugh.

Jay leaned in again, undeterred. "Ask her if she’s hungry. I heard hospital food is terrible."

Dominique looked at Hazel. She blinked twice, then glanced toward the window.

"She says, I’d rather eat the window curtain than whatever they’re serving in the cafeteria."

Hazel’s eyes went wide. She had blinked "maybe" and "I could eat." That was it.

Jay gasped. "That bad?"

Dominique nodded solemnly. "Worse."

Hazel tried to shake her head, but the bandages restricted her movement. She settled for glaring at Dominique.

"She says," Dominique continued, "Jay, you’re very kind to ask. But please stop letting Dominique speak for me. He must be very tired."

Hazel’s glare intensified.

Leo pushed off the wall. "Ask her if she’s in pain."

Dominique looked at Hazel. She blinked slowly, then looked away.

"She says, A little. But I’ve had worse. Also, Leo, you don’t have to stand in the corner like a bodyguard. Sit down. You’re making everyone nervous."

Leo’s eyebrow twitched. He didn’t sit.

Bella tugged his sleeve. "She’s right. You’re looming."

"I don’t loom."

"You’re looming right now."

Leo sat.

Hazel blinked once. Then she looked at Dominique with something that might have been gratitude.

"She says, Thank you."

Hazel blinked again. That one was actually accurate.

Dominique’s expression softened. "You’re welcome."

Jay raised his hand. "Okay, new question. What’s the first thing you want to do when you’re healed?"

Dominique looked at Hazel. She blinked several times, then looked at the ceiling, then back at Jay.

"She says, Eat a real meal. Then sleep for a week. Then maybe push Jay off a balcony for fun."

Jay’s mouth fell open. "What? Me? Why me?"

Hazel wanted to curse Dominique. When did she say such things? She hadn’t blinked anything about pushing anyone off a balcony. She had blinked simple things. Basic things. Things like "I’m fine" and "thank you" and "please stop talking."

But Dominique kept adding. Kept inventing. Kept making up entire conversations that existed only in his own head.

She couldn’t handle it anymore. The bandages itched. Her face throbbed. And Dominique was standing there, looking so pleased with himself, translating her nonexistent words with the confidence of a man who had never been wrong in his life.

She closed her eyes.

Not in exhaustion, though, but in surrender.

If she couldn’t stop him, she wouldn’t watch him. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Jenna laughed as she looked at Dominique.

He was the kind of person who could make anyone forget time with his personality. The kind of person who walked into a room and the atmosphere became brighter.

She had seen it when he first arrived at the hospital, nervous but calm, talking to the nurses, making them laugh.

She had seen the way he looked at her daughter.

Not with pity and discomfort, but with warmth, with patience, and with something that looked like love.

Hazel’s personality was serious. She had always been serious. Even as a child, she had been quiet, thoughtful, slow to trust. The accident had made her worse. The scar had made her retreat further into herself, building walls that no one seemed able to breach.

But Dominique didn’t try to breach them. He just stayed near her.

Jenna wanted that for her daughter. She wanted someone who could lighten Hazel’s darkness, who could make her laugh, who could sit beside her in a hospital room and translate her eye movements into ridiculous sentences just to make everyone smile.

She wanted someone like Dominique for her daughter.

Her thoughts drifted to Nicolas, and her face turned ugly.

Nicolas had been charming too, at first. Charming and handsome and persistent. He had swept Hazel off her feet with grand gestures and flowery words. He had promised her the world, and Hazel—sweet, hopeful Hazel—had believed him.

And he had almost ruined her daughter’s life.

Jenna’s hands curled into fists.

She looked back at Dominique, who was now arguing with Jay about the physics of pushing someone off a balcony.

"Would it even work?" Jay was asking. "I mean, we’re on the third floor. That’s not high enough for—"

"Jay," Jace interrupted. "Stop planning your own death."

"I’m not planning. I’m calculating."

Dominique grinned. "She also says, Jay, you’re overthinking it. Just fall."

Hazel’s eyes snapped open. She glared at Dominique.

"She says," Dominique continued, unbothered, "I’m kidding. Mostly."

Jenna shook her head, smiling.