For days, he didn’t speak. He ate only if I fed him broth. He slept only if I stayed nearby, humming old songs.

We found a name stitched into his collar: Oliver.

On the fourth night, a storm hit hard. Wind screamed around the cabin.

Then Oliver screamed.

“NO! DON’T LOOK! MOM, DON’T LOOK!”

I grabbed him before he could hurt himself. Grams held calming oils under his nose.

He collapsed into me, sobbing. And then—he focused.

“The car,” he whispered. “It went off the road. Mommy stopped screaming.”

He hadn’t gone blind. He’d seen too much.

By the sixth day, he was eating stew, helping stack wood, touching everything like it was new. He laughed once when the cat chased a moth.

We knew we’d have to call authorities, but the storm had taken out the satellite phone and roads.

Then came helicopters.

Black SUVs tore into our clearing. Men in suits poured out. Private security.

Grams stood on the porch with her shotgun. “Private land!”

A tall man stepped forward—Jonathan Pierce. Same dark hair as Oliver. Same sharp jaw. His eyes were cold.

“Oliver,” he barked.

Oliver froze. The light vanished again.

“That’s his father,” one guard said.

“He was freezing to death,” I snapped. “He’s traumatized.”