Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 295

Chapter 295

OLLIE

A 93

I pressed my face against the cool window of the hospital corridor, watching my twin brother through the glass as he sat motionless

beside Lake’s bed. Riley hadn’t moved in over an hour, his hand resting on Lake’s arm like he was afraid his friend might disappear if he

let go. The machines kept their steady rhythm, and Lake kept breathing with mechanical assistance, but nothing else had changed in the

three days since we’d arrived here.

“Come on, Riley,” I whispered to the glass, my breath fogging the surface. “Just look at me. Just once.”

But he didn’t turn around. He never did anymore.

I’d been trying to connect with my twin for weeks now, ever since the whole mess with Andy had exploded our family apart. Every

time I approached him, every time I tried to start a conversation or offer comfort, he’d look right through me like I wasn’t there. Like I

was just another piece of furniture in whatever room we happened to be sharing.

“He needs time,” Mom had explained when I’d asked why Riley acted like I didn’t exist. “He’s processing a lot of trauma, Ollie. It’s not

personal.”

Except it felt personal. It felt like losing a brother I’d barely gotten to know in the first place.

This wasn’t how families were supposed to work. This wasn’t how twins were supposed to treat each other.

I’d tried talking to Riley about it, cornering him in the hallway outside the cafeteria when Mom and Dad were meeting with doctors.

I’d planned out what I wanted to say, how I would explain that I knew he was hurting but that shutting everyone out wasn’t going to fix

anything.

“Riley,” I’d started, stepping into his path so he couldn’t just walk past me. “Can we talk? Please? Just for a minute?”

He’d looked at me then, really looked at me, for the first time in days. But his expression had been completely blank, like he was

seeing a stranger instead of the brother who’d shared a womb with him for nine months.

“About what?” he’d asked, his voice flat and emotionless.

“About… everything. About what happened with Andy, about Lake, about the way you’ve been avoiding everyone who cares about you.

About the way you act like I don’t even exist.”

Riley had blinked slowly, processing my words with the same mechanical consideration he gave everything else these days. “I don’t act

like you don’t exist. I acknowledge your presence when necessary.”

“That’s not the same thing as being brothers,” I’d said, frustration bleeding into my voice despite my best efforts to stay calm.

“We’re twins, Riley. We’re supposed to be connected, supposed to understand each other better than anyone else does. But you won’t

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12:52 Thu, Jan 29 M…

Chapter 295

even let me try to help you.”

:

“I don’t need help,” he’d replied. “I need Lake to wake up. Everything else is just… noise.”

The dismissal had stung worse than outright hostility would have. At least anger would have meant he felt something about our relationship. The blank indifference was like being erased, like the months we’d spent slowly getting to know each other had never

happened.

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Now I watched him go through the motions of eating lunch while Dr. Sloane asked her careful questions about anxiety levels and coping mechanisms. Riley answered everything with the same automatic response, he knew would get him what he wanted while revealing

absolutely nothing about his actual emotional state.

“How are you holding up?”

I turned to find Dad standing behind me, his own expression weary as he watched the scene playing out in Lake’s room. He’d been

trying to bridge the gap between Riley and the rest of us too, with about as much success as I’d been having.

“I hate seeing him like this,” I admitted, leaning back against the corridor wall. “It’s like someone took my brother and replaced him

with a robot that looks exactly like him but doesn’t feel anything.”

Dad sighed, running a hand through his hair. “The medication is helping him manage the trauma responses, but it’s also dampening

everything else. Dr. Sloane says it’s temporary, that as he processes what happened with Andy and Sophia, he’ll be able to reduce the

dosage.”

“What if he doesn’t want to?” I asked. “What if he likes feeling nothing better than feeling everything?”

It was the question that had been keeping me awake at night. Riley had been in so much pain before the medication, so overwhelmed

by conflicting emotions and traumatic memories that he’d collapsed completely. The numbness from the drugs that he was taking might

feel like relief compared to that chaos.

“Then we’ll deal with that when we come to it,” Dad said, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. None of us really knew how to

help Riley, how to reach him through the barriers he’d erected around his emotions and himself right now.

The conversation in Lake’s room was winding down. I watched Riley take his medication without protest, submit to Dr. Sloane’s final

questions with quiet compliance, and settle back into his vigil beside Lake’s bed when Mom finally left him alone again.

“We should head home soon,” Dad said, glancing at his watch. “Riley needs proper rest, and there’s nothing more we can accomplish

here tonight.”

I knew he was right, but I also knew that convincing Riley to leave would be another negotiation, another careful balance of

consequences and rewards.

My brother would ask to stay overnight again, Mom would refuse firmly, and eventually he’d comply because the alternative was

losing his visitation privileges entirely. He rather have what he can, of Lake’s time than nothing at all.

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Chapter 295

It was exhausting to watch.

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We made our way back to Lake’s room, where Riley was speaking quietly to his unconscious friend. I couldn’t make out the words, but

his voice carried a warmth and emotion that he never showed the rest of us anymore. It hurt to realize that the only person who could

still reach my brother was the one person who couldn’t respond to him.

“Time to go,” Mom announced, and I watched Riley’s shoulders tense with familiar resistance.

“Please,” he said for what had to be the fourth time that day. “Just let me stay tonight. I’ll sleep in the chair, I won’t cause any

problems. I just want to be here if something happens.”

“You need proper rest in a real bed,” Mom replied with the same patient immovability she’d shown each time he’d asked. “You need

normalcy. Lake is stable, and the medical staff will call us immediately if his condition changes.”

The word ‘normalcy’ seemed to hit Riley like a physical blow. His face went completely blank, that shutdown expression I’d learned to

recognize as his way of protecting himself from emotions he couldn’t handle.

“Fine,” he said, standing up from his chair with mechanical precision. “Let’s go.”

I turned around and headed out first to the elevators giving Riley space so I would not crowd him muh than necessary. But really I

didn’t want to watch him ignore me again.

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12:53 Thu, Jan 29 M

Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart