Theres a popular saying that Hazel always found profoundly wise:

Close your eyes and open them, and a day has passed. Close your eyes and refuse to open them, and an entire lifetime is gone.

But if someone told her shed blinked and fifteen whole years had slipped by, shed call that utterly absurd. Who could hear such a claim and not think it preposterous?

Youve got to be in cahoots with that punk Andy, setting me up for one of those hidden camera pranks. Even the fake tears! Though I'll give it to you, your makeup job is on point

Hazels voice trailed off. She noticed the tighter she spoke, the tighter Gabriel held her.

Myribsare going to snap!

Annoyed, she reached out to pinch him, an old habit from their dating days that had carried seamlessly into their marriage.

Im sorry, Hazel.

Gabriel instantly loosened his grip at her complaint. She huffed, prying his hands off herand then froze. Something was wrong. Her gaze dropped, and her expression shifted abruptly. What happened to your hand?

Gabriels right knuckles were mottled with blood. Several gashes laid the skin bare, the wounds red and raw.

Hazel pulled him toward the dresser. We need the first-aid kit. Most hotels keep them in the cabinet.

Gabriel followed her closely, saying nothing, his gaze heavy with something unreadable.

What did you do? Your hand was fine when you were Hazel stopped halfway through dabbing ointment on his wounds. Her breath caught. No, if this was some elaborate hidden-camera stunt, Gabriel would never have gripped her neck that hard. Not with such force, not with such desperation.

She reached for her phone on the coffee table. The backlight illuminated the screen, the date stamped there plain as day: fifteen years later.

Haz where have you been all these years?

The words left Gabriels lips hesitantly, almost trembling. Fifteen years ago, the plane crash made headlines. Among the 123 passengers aboard, not one could be accounted forclassified as missing. The black box had been recovered on a desolate island, but over time, the sea had given back only fragments: debris, and bodies washed ashore one by one.

Gabriel had searched tirelessly for Hazel. But some nights, asleep or not, the thought of finding her terrified him even more.

Hazel heard none of his question. She was drowning in a rising tide of impossible reality.

Fifteen years how can that be? Andy would be twenty-one by now. And Caro, Victor

Her head snapped up, her eyes fierce, wild almost. Call Andy. Video call him. Right now, Gabriel. I need to see him.

If this was real, then the fifteen-year void needed an answer. And she wouldnt believe it until she saw the boyher boygrown. Nothing else would make sense.

Gabriel hesitated, but only for a moment, before nodding. All right, Hazel. Ill call him. He pulled out his phone and dialed. Once. Twice. On the third attempt, the call connected.

What is it?

The three clipped, frigid words came through a pitch-dark video frame, cracking Hazels tense desperation into uneasy quiet. Her heart sank as dread crawled under her skin.

This was... not Andy. It couldnt be Andy. Her baby boysoft-spoken, bursting with joy, who would shout Mommy, Daddy! every time they came homecould never grow into this shadowed, sharp-edged presence.

Andy? Is that you? Hazels hand trembled as she grabbed the phone, pulling it to her face.

The black screen shifted, a soft click echoing on the other end. Then the camera feed burst into light, and Hazels breath hitched.

The face staring back at her left no room for doubt. No mother could mistake those familiar features, refined but not transformed by age. It was Andy. A larger, graver Andy, but undeniably him.

And yet

You can parade all the cheap imitations you want. Just keep them away from me. Pathetic.

The screen went dark again as the call cut out. The shrill, repeated beep of the disconnected line echoed in the silence.

Hazel stared, tongue-tied, unable to form a single coherent thought. Her son had just insulted her?

The bewilderment tightened into something much sharper, more forceful. Maternal indignation surged through her, sweeping away her confusion entirely.

She slammed the phone face down onto the table, grabbed her water glass, and gulped half of it down. Finally, she set it down with a definitive thunk.

Start talking. Now. What the hell happened?!

Where was her sweet, sunny Andy? Her heart ached like it had been cleaved in two. That boy was hersand yet he wasnt. What had happened to her son?

Gabriel bowed his head. His shoulders drooped under the weight of guilt and sorrow. When you disappeared I searched for you everywhere. I wasnt there for the kids the way I shouldve been. They misunderstood me. Resented me. Hazel, Im sorry.

Hazels lips pressed into a hard line. This man. Hed always known how to play the wounded card, all the way back to their dating days. She shouldve felt exasperated at the old trickbut then, could she even blame him? If their family had truly lost her for fifteen years

Fifteen years. No wife. No mother. Only absence and grief.

A sharp ache lanced through her chest. She felt like a cruel god had targeted her family with a joke so bleak it bordered on malicious.

I I dont know, Gabriel. I dont know whats going on. The plane went down in the ocean. I tried to escape the cabinthere were so many people, I couldnt get out. Water kept rushing in, filling my mouth, my lungs

Her voice broke. Tears gathered at the corners of her lashes. She shook her head, struggling to make sense of it even as she spoke. When I woke up, I was here. In the bathtub. Then you were choking meI didnt understand, it hurt so much

The sob tore free at last, and Gabriel quickly pulled her into his arms. She clung to him, fingers looping around his neck like they had so many times before. When her forehead rested against the crook of his shoulder, feeling the steady pulse of life in his veins, her trembling eased by degrees.

This, too, was instinct. Hazel couldnt help leaning into him for comfort in moments like this; her heart knew no other way.

Dont be afraid, Hazel, he murmured into her hair. Im here. Ill protect you

As he whispered assurances, the faintest tendrils of incense began to spiral upward from the bedside diffuser. The soft, resinous aroma of sandalwood filled the room, the smoke curling like translucent ribbons, blurring their outlines as Hazels eyelids grew heavier.

How did I wake up fifteen years later? Gabriel, my headmy head is spinning. Andy, hes so angry now he must have been so miserable without me. And Caro Victor such little ones

Her voice grew softer, words slurring into the fragrant haze until silence claimed her entirely. Her breathing steaded, finally slipping into the rhythm of sleep.

Gabriel held her tightly, his jaw tightening before he carefully laid her down. With one hand still clasping her wrist, he reached for his phone and dialed.

Have Dr. Zeller brought in immediately.

After hanging up, he opened the bedside drawer. Inside was a laptop, which he activated swiftly. Fingers darted across the keys as he accessed the hotels hallway surveillance feed, rewinding to the exact moment when he had left the room.

All the while, his grasp on Hazels wristthe bruised, calloused grip of his right handremained unyielding.

Meanwhile, chaos consumed Andrew Jenningss room.

The wreckage was just shy of catastrophic. Furniture overturned, shattered glass littered the floor. Andrew himself sat slouched on the sofa, his body curled as though trying to shrink into oblivion, his arm locked around one thing he dared not let go.

A wooden pendant. Carved by his mothers hands for his sixth birthday.

Against his chest, it seemed the only solid thing in his world. A sliver of warmth in the void threatening to engulf him. Tears he couldnt contain anymore slipped free, a hushed whimper that broke the brutal quieta sound like a wounded cub.

Mom. The word echoed silently in his mind. Mom, I miss you so much

But longing sharpened into defiance. His eyes snapped open, brimming with determination. Whatever illusion or audacity had led someone to impersonate his mother, he wouldnt stand for it. Not for a second.

No one could touch the memory of who she was.

The boy she left behind wasnt hers anymore. Not fully. And Andrew Jennings wasnt about to let anyoneimposters, ghosts, himselfpretend otherwise.