Jax laughed at Gretchen’s incredulous look. Her face was so expressive, it said more than words ever could. She imagined Gretchen wondering where her doctor received her degree from and if it was real. The humor of the moment fell away when Dr. Melendez’s expression turned to concern.

“Can you talk?” the doctor asked.

Jax’s heart dropped when Gretchen looked at her with desperate eyes instead of answering. “Can you answer Dr. Melendez? One word, that’s all we need.” She took Gretchen’s hand. She hated how awkward it felt to do something that was once second nature.

Gretchen’s eyes started to tear, and her chin quivered. Her brow was pinched together, and she looked like she wanted to scream. Gretchen held her hand so tightly it hurt.

Dr. Melendez stepped back from Gretchen’s bedside. Jax started to speak, wanting to demand answers and for them to do something, anything, to help fix her, but Dr. Melendez stopped her with a tilt of her head. She stood and followed her to the doorway of Gretchen’s room.

“What the hell is going on?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Gretchen’s main injury is to her occipital lobe, but in her scans we did notice faint bruising to the cerebrum. That’s the part of her brain that controls speech.”

“So she can’t speak?”

“I think that’s what we’re dealing with right now.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this?”

“Brain injuries are unpredictable. Her seizure must’ve triggered something.”

She tugged at the neckline of her fuchsia sweatshirt, suddenly feeling hot and panicked, and above all else angry. She heard Gretchen knock again, but she couldn’t even look at her. “Do you think it’s permanent?”

“It’s hard to tell right now.” Dr. Melendez took out her notebook and wrote a few new notes. “I’ll know more tomorrow.”

“Hey!” The one word was loud.

Jax turned back to Gretchen immediately, grinning broadly at the sound of her voice.

Dr. Melendez chuckled and kept writing. “It’s not much, but I’ll take it as a word.”

Jax knew she was being beckoned, even without Gretchen saying another word. She walked back to Gretchen, each step feeling slower than the next. Gretchen flipped her hand on the mattress and opened her palm to her. When Jax took her hand, she felt awash with happiness and confusion. Gretchen’s eyes were clear and soft and looked the way they used to, when she still loved her.