CHAPTER 164: NEVER ALONE

A heavy silence fell between them.

Darla reached out to touch Alex’s arm. "Sweetheart, tell us the truth... Did you follow her?"

Alex stared at her. For a flicker of a second, his mask slipped.

Then it returned.

"No," he said tightly. "I didn’t."

But Derek was already pulling out his phone. "I’m going to check every security feed between Morris’s house and that accident site. And if I find anything... you better start praying she doesn’t wake up."

Alex didn’t respond. He just stormed out of the dining hall, his heart pounding.

In the silence that followed, Darla looked helplessly at Derek. "You don’t know for sure."

Derek didn’t look at her.

He just muttered under his breath.

"God help us if she wakes up and remembers."

__________________________

The occasional beep from Emma’s heart monitor. She lay motionless on the hospital bed, her face partially bandaged, her arm suspended in a sling, and bruises on her usually flawless skin.

Jean stood at the threshold of the door, her steps slowing as her eyes fell on the still figure of her best friend.

"Emma..." she whispered, breath hitching. Her chest tightened at the sight.

Beside Emma’s bed sat someone she didn’t expect... Henry, his shoulders slightly slouched, fingers laced together as he quietly stared at her, eyes heavy with something deeper than just concern.

When he noticed Jean and Logan at the door, he stood up quickly. "You’re here," he said softly, surprised but relieved.

Jean swallowed the lump in her throat. "How is she?"

"The doctors say she’s stable," Henry replied, his voice low. "But still unconscious. They’re keeping her under observation for now."

There was a moment of silence before Logan gently placed a hand on Jean’s back. "You want a moment?"

Jean nodded faintly, and Logan turned to Henry, tilting his head toward the hallway. "Let’s give them some space."

As the two men stepped out, Jean slowly walked to Emma’s bedside. Her fingers trembled as she reached for Emma’s uninjured hand, holding it carefully between her own.

"I should’ve picked up your call..." her voice cracked. "I should’ve been there, Emma."

She took a shaky breath, eyes blurring with tears.

"You’ve always been there for me. Protected me. Fought for me. And when it was your turn... I failed you."

Outside the room, Logan and Henry leaned against the wall in silence for a few seconds before Logan glanced over at him.

"I didn’t know you cared about Emma this much," Logan said quietly, crossing his arms. "Is there something between you two?"

Henry’s eyes flickered with a sad glint. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gave Logan a soft, bittersweet smile.

"There could’ve been," he said. "Maybe there would’ve

been. But God didn’t give us time. Just when I started seeing her as more than Jean’s feisty best friend... this happened."

Logan looked away, lips pressed into a firm line.

Henry continued, his voice even softer now, "She didn’t deserve this. Not her."

Inside, Jean whispered brokenly, resting her forehead against Emma’s hand, "Please wake up... I don’t care about the past anymore. I need you now."

Outside, Logan finally muttered, almost to himself, "Whoever did this to her... won’t walk away free."

Henry nodded slowly. "We owe her that much."

The door creaked open slowly, and Jean stepped out into the hallway, her expression unreadable at first. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, as if holding herself together. Her eyes, still shimmering with restrained emotion, drifted toward the two men.

Both Logan and Henry straightened from the wall. Logan took a tentative step forward. "Jean?"

She shook her head slightly, still lost in thought, before she finally looked at them... really looked at them. "She’s cold," she whispered. "I’ve never seen her so... still."

Henry’s jaw tensed, but he said nothing. Logan’s face softened. "She’s strong," he said gently. "She’ll make it through."

Jean nodded slowly. Then her voice turned steel.

"She has to. Because someone tried to kill her."

A tense silence fell.

"I don’t believe that crash was an accident," she said firmly, meeting their eyes. "She called me... more than once. Something happened, and she knew something. Something she was desperate to tell me."

Henry exhaled shakily. "I dropped her off at her father’s house. She said she was jet-lagged. I don’t know why she’d go out again unless something serious happened there."

Jean’s expression darkened. "Then whatever happened... it happened after she reached home."

Logan stepped closer, his voice now calm but unmistakably firm. "Jean, I know what you’re thinking."

"I need to go there. Morris’s house..."

"No," Logan cut in. "Absolutely not."

Jean blinked, taken aback. "Logan..."

"You’re not walking into any Adams house alone. Ever again."

There was a flicker of something fierce in Logan’s eyes... not just anger, but fear. Protective, instinctual fear.

Jean’s lip quivered. "You ignored me for days, treated me like I was the villain... And now you care?"

His voice was low, almost a whisper. "I was angry. Hurt. But I never stopped caring."

Henry quietly stepped away, giving them space.

Jean’s voice softened but remained resolute. "Then let me do this. Let me find out the truth."

Logan moved closer. "We’ll do it. Together."

For the first time in days, their eyes met... not with tension or mistrust, but a quiet, shared pain... and a purpose.

Jean nodded. "Then let’s bring the truth out before Emma wakes up."

Henry stepped forward again. "If she does... she deserves to open her eyes to a world where the people who did this to her can’t hurt her anymore."

Logan agreed. "And if they even try... they’ll have to go through us."

___________________________

The night was cold, the glow of the street lamps casting long shadows over the hospital parking lot. A black figure stood quietly under a tree near the rear entrance, motionless, save for the subtle rise and fall of breath.

The hood of his sweatshirt was pulled low, casting his face in darkness, and a cap was tucked beneath it, obscuring his features further.

Alex Adams.