“It matters a lot. And you never know. They say people in comas can hear what goes on around them.” I mean, I’ve heard it before. I don’t know if it applies in this situation, but I can’t let him keep feeling this way without at least trying to help.

“Let’s do this.” He blows out a long sigh before leading me into the hospital room, holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers in the other hand. Lilies. It was important to him that she had her favorite flowers.

I feel like I shouldn’t breathe too loudly once we’re inside the room. It’s like entering some sacred space, breaking into this poor woman’s peace. She’s in her bed, of course, with a tube in her throat and various monitors beeping all around her.

She’s the woman from the picture, only she isn’t. Older, for one thing. Her face is relaxed—that big, winning smile is gone. But it’s her, and now I see the resemblance between her and her sons.

“Mom.” Colt’s fingers tighten around mine as we move closer to the bed. “It’s me. It’s Colt. I’m here. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m here.”

He leaves the flowers on the table next to the bed before sitting in a chair at her side. He rubs his hands together, obviously nervous. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to find you. We wanted to for a really long time. Me and Nix.” His voice catches on the name. “But I found you. And now I’ll be able to see you all the time. You get to hear me talking about nothing important. Aren’t you lucky?”

I can’t help but smile, even with tears in my eyes. I’ve been standing back, away from them, but he waves me closer. “Mom. You remember Leni Peters? I remember you saying she had the best floor routine you ever saw.” I stare at him in surprise—he never told me that.

“She’s safe,” he whispers, taking her hand in both of his. “We both are. He’s gone now. I don’t know if you can hear me, but he’s gone. He’s never going to hurt anybody again. Only…”

He hangs his head for a moment, and I can feel his sorrow. “Only the cops think it was Nix who did it. I don’t believe them. It’s been a whole month, and I haven’t heard anything from him. They’re trying to say he set an explosion in the kitchen at the house. That was what killed him. They’re saying Nix was there, in the kitchen; that was where they found him. But I don’t believe it.”