The ceiling panels hummed above me. A monitor kept a steady rhythm beside my bed. My body felt impossibly heavy, like I was buried under wet cement. Oxygen brushed against my nose. Pain flared when I tried to swallow, so I let my eyes remain closed.
And I listened.
Footsteps squeaked against tile. A plastic bag rustled. The air smelled like antiseptic and warm linens.
Then memory crashed back—rain slicing across my windshield, headlights reflecting off slick pavement, the steering wheel jerking violently in my hands.
Impact.
Darkness.
Voices pulled me back to the present.
“ICU was the right move,” my husband, Caleb, said calmly. Too calmly. “It keeps things controlled.”
My mother, Diane, let out a soft chuckle. “And dramatic. People don’t question dramatic.”
My father, Harold, spoke next. “The police?”
“Single-car accident,” Caleb replied smoothly. “Hydroplaned. No witnesses. Her phone was destroyed. It’s clean.”
Clean.
My pulse thundered, but I forced my body to stay limp.
If they believed I was unconscious, they would keep talking.
“She’s never noticed anything before,” my mother added. “Why would she start now?”
Caleb exhaled in satisfaction. “Exactly. Everything’s falling into place.”