Chapter 6 - The Sister’s AwakeningBack at the county hospital, the afternoon sunlight streamed gently through the large window of Nora’s private recovery room.
The heavy monitor beeps had slowed down to a steady, rhythmic cadence. The swelling around Nora’s eye had started to turn a dull shade of purple and yellow, and the dark bruising on her neck was stark against her pale skin, but when I walked through the door, her eyes were open—and for the first time in years, they were clear.
She looked up as I pulled a chair close to her bedside and sat down.
“How are you feeling?” I asked softly, pouring a small cup of water and holding a straw to her dry lips.
Nora took a slow sip, swallowed, and managed a faint, bittersweet smile. “Like I just woke up from a nightmare I’ve been trapped in for five years.”
“You’re safe now, Nora,” I said, gently squeezing her hand. “Marcus is locked in a federal holding facility. His corporate assets are frozen, his company is being dissolved, and he will never, ever be able to come near you again.”
A tear slipped down Nora’s cheek, catching the afternoon light before disappearing into her hospital gown.
“He... he told me nobody would believe me,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “He said because he was a powerful corporate executive, and I was just... just a stay-at-home wife with no money and no connections, the police would laugh me out of the station. He convinced me that fighting back would only destroy our family.”
“He lied,” I said fiercely, my voice dropping into a fierce, protective warmth. “He forgot something very important, Nora.”
She blinked, looking at me with curiosity. “What?”
“He forgot that you have a sister who spent her entire life learning how to hunt monsters for a living.”
Nora let out a sudden, wet chuckle—part laugh, part sob—and squeezed my hand back with surprising strength.
“When I called you at 3:00 a.m.,” Nora whispered, her voice breaking, “I didn't think I was going to survive the night. When I saw him standing in the doorway while you walked up the stairs... I thought he was going to destroy you, too.”
“Nobody destroys this family,” I said firmly, leaning over and kissing her forehead. “Never again.”
Suddenly, the door to the hospital room clicked open.
A nurse stepped inside, holding a secure encrypted tablet. “Colonel Bennett? You have an urgent secure priority call patching through from an overseas military relay station. It’s... it’s your brother, Leo.”
My heart skipped a beat.
I stood up, took the tablet from the nurse, and hit accept.
On the screen, thousands of miles away in a dusty, high-security communications tent somewhere overseas, our younger brother Leo’s face appeared. He was wearing his full tactical helmet and desert camo, looking directly into the camera with an expression of absolute shock and confusion.
“Elena? Nora?” Leo’s voice crackled through the tiny speaker. “What the hell is going on? My commanding officer just pulled me off patrol, told me my security clearance was temporarily upgraded, and said some crazy rumor is sweeping the upper chain of command that Marcus Hayes’s entire corporate empire just imploded overnight. Did... did you guys have something to do with this?”
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I looked down at Nora, who was smiling softly from her hospital bed, and then back at the screen.
“Let’s just say, little brother,” I smiled, “we finally handled a family matter.”
