Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 283

Chapter 283

XENOIS

“His vitals are spiking, one of the nurses reported. “Heart rate elevated, brain activity increasing. It’s like he’s responding to

something.”

I looked between Riley’s unconscious form and Lake’s suddenly active monitors, understanding dawning with sick certainty.

“They’re connected,” I said quietly.

“Whatever bond they have, Lake can sense that Riley’s in distress.”

Dr. Sloane nodded grimly. “We need to get Riley stabilized quickly. If his condition worsens, it could trigger more complications for

Lake.”

93

The next few hours blurred together in a haze of medical procedures and hushed conversations. Riley was hooked up to IVs, his dehydrated body desperately absorbing fluids and nutrients while we sat vigil beside his bed. Dr. Sloane had been clear about the severity of his condition – three days without proper food or water, combined with the psychological trauma he’d endured, had pushed his young

body to its breaking point.

safe.”

“We’re taking him home,” Lumina announced as Riley’s vital signs finally stabilized. “He needs to be somewhere familiar, somewhere

“Mrs. Blackwood, I really think he should remain under medical supervision for at least another day,” Dr. Sloane protested. “His

condition was quite serious.”

“His condition is psychological as much as physical,” I replied, understanding Lumina’s reasoning completely. “Being in this hospital, separated from his family, is only making things worse. We can monitor his medical needs at home.”

Dr. Sloane looked like she wanted to argue further, but something in our expressions must have convinced her that this decision was

non-negotiable.

“Fine,” she said with obvious reluctance. “But he’ll need continued IV fluids, complete bed rest, and constant supervision. If his condition deteriorates at all, you bring him back immediately.”

An hour later, we were carrying our unconscious son through the front door of our home. Samuel and Silvia were waiting in the living room, their faces etched with concern as they saw Riley’s pale, motionless form.

“How is he?” Silvia asked softly.

“Alive,” Lumina replied, her voice hollow with exhaustion, “That’s about all we can say right now.”

We settled Riley in his bedroom, the same space we’d prepared for him weeks ago when he’d first come home. The IV stand looked

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Chapter 283

starkly medical against the warm, welcoming décor, but it was necessary to keep him hydrated while his body recovered from his self-

imposed ordeal.

“I’ll take the first watch,” I offered, settling into the chair beside his bed.

“You should get some rest.”

Lumina shook her head. “I’m not leaving him alone. Not again.”

93

So we sat together in the quiet room, watching the steady rise and fall of Riley’s chest as his body worked to heal itself. Outside, the sun was setting, painting the walls in shades of gold and amber that should have been peaceful but felt ominous given the circumstances.

Riley stirred just as full darkness fell, his eyelids fluttering open with obvious confusion. For a moment, he seemed disoriented, unsure of where he was or how he’d gotten there. Then awareness returned, and with it came the devastating realization that he was no

longer with Lake.

“No,” he whispered, trying to sit up despite the IV line in his arm. “No, I have to go back. I have to be with him.”

“Riley, you collapsed,” Lumina said

to recover.”

moving to the edge of his bed. “You’ve been unconscious for hours. Your body needs time

But Riley wasn’t listening. His eyes had gone flat and distant, all emotion draining from his expression as he processed his new reality. The transformation was immediate and complete – one moment he was struggling against his physical limitations, the next he had

simply… shut down.

He lay back against the pillows without another word, his gaze fixed on the ceiling as if the rest of us had simply ceased to exist. When Lumina reached out to touch his forehead, checking for fever, he didn’t react at all. When I spoke his name, he might as well have

been deaf.

“Riley?” Lumina tried again, her voice carrying a note of desperation. “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

Nothing. No response, no acknowledgment, no sign that our words were registering at all. Riley had retreated somewhere inside himself where our voices couldn’t reach, where the pain of separation from Lake couldn’t touch him.

I’d seen this before in traumatized soldiers – the complete psychological withdrawal that sometimes occurred when reality became too

with overwhelming to process. It was a defense mechanism, a way of surviving unbearable circumstances by simply refusing to engage

them.

But seeing it in my own son, watching him disappear behind walls we couldn’t penetrate, was devastating in ways I couldn’t have

anticipated.

“We need a different approach,” Lumina said quietly, her mind already working on the problem.

“Traditional methods aren’t going to reach him in this state.”

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Chapter 283

93

I watched Riley’s blank stare, the complete absence of the vibrant, complicated boy we’d grown to love, and felt something cold settle

in my stomach.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

Lumina was quiet for a long moment, studying Riley’s motionless form with the intensity of a general planning a crucial battle.

“Leverage,” she said finally. “He’s shut down because he feels powerless, because we’ve taken away the one thing that mattered to him.

We need to give him back some control.”

“How?”

She turned to meet my eyes, and I saw in them the same maternal determination that had driven her to confront Andy, the same fierce protectiveness that had made her willing to torture a woman for information about our son.

“We give him what he wants,” she said simply. “But we make him earn it. We show him that his choices have consequences, both good and bad. We teach him that cooperation leads to rewards, while withdrawal leads to isolation.”

–

I understood what she was proposing a system of behavioral modification that would use Riley’s desperate need to see Lake as motivation for engaging with us. It felt manipulative, almost cruel, but looking at our son’s vacant expression, I realized we were running

out of options.

“You think that will work?”

“I think it’s our best chance,” Lumina replied. “Riley’s been conditioned to respond to clear expectations and consequences. Right now, he’s lost and confused because he doesn’t understand what we want from him or how to earn our approval. We need to make the rules

explicit.”

I nodded slowly, understanding the logic even as it made me uncomfortable. We were going to have to parent Riley the way someone might train a traumatized animal – with patience, consistency, and carefully structured rewards for desired behavior.

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12:51 Thu, Jan 29 M…

Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart