Coma, Betrayal, and Broken Hearts

the soft classical music I played in my office. I forced my eyelids open, they felt heavy, glued shut. The ceiling was a sterile white, not the f

osp

ts, and a sharp, crushing impact. I was on my way to Lily' s school play. She was pla

hter. M

a dry, rasping sound

, rushed to my side. "Mr. Johnson? Mark? C

? My wife, Sarah?

ity that scared me. "They're safe, Mr. Johnson. You'

a knot of dread tig

better if the doctor

An entire decade of my life, of my family' s life, had vanished. The world I knew was gone. He handed

industry. Her face, older and sharper, stared out from magazine covers and news articles. In almost every picture, a handsome, sharp-suited man named Al

nt com

rately searching for Lily. I found nothing. No pictures, no mention

r. I had to kno

scarded clothes in a closet and walked out of the hospital, a ghost stepping back into a world that had moved on without me. A kind taxi driver, seeing my hospital go

I asked for Lily Johnson. "I'm sorry, sir," she said after checking her computer

iant, talented Lily?

than I remembered. Then I heard it, a commotion from a street corner

crowd of onloo

nd pale, her jaw set with a stubbornness I recognized as my own. She was standing behind a

re grabbing at her drawings, their laughter ugly. "Com

a ticket. "This is an unauthorized vendor stall. You nee

r voice trembling but str

at the curb. The window rolled down, and I saw a fac

ra

hen her gaze landed on Lily. There was no wa

peless," Sarah said, her vo

indow rolled up, and the car sped

reet. It struck Lily harder than any

something inside me snapped. Ten years of sleep, of helplessne

wd. I wasn't an architec

ve my knee into his gut. My body screamed in protest, weak and unused, but the fury was a fire in my veins. They were young and strong, but

ficial, who was staring

m my daughter

"You can't do this! I'm a city official! My cousin is A

in. Alex Chen. The

mention of that name. Lily' s face was white as a sheet. Her eyes, which

d onto the d

-