Michael’s POV

By the time I hear that Isabella is in hospital, the news settles into me like a quiet promise, the kind that grows roots fast, because in my mind it means weakness, it means fear, it means regret, and most of all it means opportunity, and I cling to that thought as if it is the last solid thing left to me in a world that has collapsed far quicker than I ever believed it could. I tell myself that she will want to see me. Of course, she will.

People always want what is familiar ...