Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 305

Chapter 305

XENOIS

The discharge paperwork took longer than I’d expected, every form requiring multiple signatures and careful review of Lake’s post-

coma care instructions.

Dr. Sloane walked us through the medication schedule, the warning signs to watch for, the follow-up appointments that would need

to be scheduled once we settled in Silver Creek.

Riley stood beside Lake’s wheelchair-hospital policy, despite the boy’s insistence he could walk-with one hand resting protectively

on his shoulder.

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He’d barely let Lake out of his sight since he’d woken up, as if afraid that looking away might cause him to disappear again.

“Remember,” Dr. Sloane said, directing her words primarily at Riley since he was clearly going to be Lake’s primary caretaker whether we liked it or not, “no portal usage for at least a week. His body needs time to recover from the magical exhaustion, and pushing too hard

too soon could cause another collapse.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Riley promised with a firmness that left no room for argument.

Lake rolled his eyes but didn’t protest, which told me he was either more worried about his condition than he was letting on, or he’d learned that arguing with Riley about his welfare was pointless.

Getting Lake into the SUV required careful maneuvering. He was steadier on his feet than I’d expected given his extended unconsciousness, but I could see the tremor in his legs, the way he had to grip Riley’s arm for balance.

My son guided him with practiced care, settling him into the middle seat before sliding in beside him with proprietary closeness.

Ollie climbed in on Lake’s other side, his expression eager and hopeful. I watched him try to catch Lake’s attention, to find some opening for conversation that might bridge the gap between them.

But Riley was already pulling out his phone, offering one of his earbuds to Lake with the easy intimacy of long habit.

“I downloaded some new cartoons,” Riley said, his voice carrying more animation than I’d heard from him in weeks. “The ones you said looked good before… before everything happened.”

Lake accepted the earbud and leaned closer to see the screen, and just like that, Ollie became invisible. I caught my younger son’s face in the rearview mirror as I pulled out of the hospital parking lot-the flash of hurt quickly suppressed, the determined attempt to act like he wasn’t bothered by being excluded.

Lumina reached over from the passenger seat and squeezed my hand, her expression telling me she’d noticed too. Our family dynamics were fracturing in real-time, and I had no idea how to stop it.

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Chapter 305

…

For the first twenty minutes, the only sounds were the quiet dialogue from whatever cartoon they were watching, punctuated by

Lake’s occasional snort of amusement or Riley’s soft commentary.

Then Lake’s voice cut through the relative quiet, sharp with skeptical disbelief.

“That’s such bullshit,” he declared, gesturing at the phone screen.

“There’s no way that guy could survive a fall like that without breaking every bone in his body.”

“Right?” Riley agreed enthusiastically.

“Remember when you portaled us to that building and we had to jump down three stories? We both broke our ankles.”

“Because you pushed me to go first, Lake shot back, but there was no real heat in it. “Said you wanted to make sure it was safe.”

“It was safe,” Riley defended. “We lived.”

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“We had broken ankles for two days until Andy- Lake cut himself off abruptly, his expression shutting down as he realized what he’d

been about to say.

The casual mention of their shared experiences under Andy’s manipulation sent ice through my veins.

These weren’t normal childhood memories they were bonding over. These were trauma responses, comparing injuries sustained while being controlled by a woman who’d twisted them both into weapons.

In the mirror, I saw Lumina’s jaw tighten, but she didn’t say anything.

What could she say? That they shouldn’t find dark humor in their shared suffering? That bonding over trauma wasn’t healthy? They’d probably heard all of that from Dr. Sloane already, and it clearly hadn’t made any difference.

The movie buffered as we hit a dead zone, the loading symbol spinning endlessly while Lake groaned with dramatic despair.

He let his head drop onto Riley’s shoulder, the gesture so natural it was clear they’d done this countless times before.

‘I’m bored,” Lake complained, drawing out the words with theatrical suffering. “We’re trapped in traffic and the universe hates me.”

Ollie saw his opportunity and seized it. “I brought my gaming system,” he offered quickly, pulling the portable device from his backpack. “We could play Call of Duty if you want. It’s got this new-

‘Lake doesn’t need to stress himself,” Riley interrupted, physically pushing the gaming system away before Lake could respond.

“The doctors said he needs to rest, not strain his eyes on video games.”

The rejection on Ollie’s face was painful to witness. He pulled the device back to his chest like a shield, his expression crumbling

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Chapter 305

before he managed to school it into something resembling indifference.

“I can play games, Riley,” Lake said quietly, and I heard a warning edge in his voice. ‘I’m not made of glass.

Z (93 )

“You were in a coma three days ago,” Riley countered, his tone taking on that stubborn quality that meant he wasn’t going to budge.

“You don’t get to pretend you’re fine when you’re clearly not.”

“I don’t like games anyway,” Lake said, but there was something in his voice that suggested this was a concession rather than the

truth.

“Then don’t play them,” Riley responded, crossing his arms.

They glared at each other, and for a moment I thought we were about to witness their first real fight since Lake had woken up. The tension in the back seat was palpable, two stubborn teenagers locked in a battle of wills about something that clearly ran deeper than

video games.

“Maybe I could learn to like them,” Lake finally said, his voice careful. “It might be fun.”

Riley’s jaw worked, and I could see him processing this, trying to figure out if Lake meant it or if he was just trying to be accommodating. The medication dulled his emotional responses but hadn’t eliminated his ability to read people, especially not Lake.

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12:53 Thu, Jan 29 M…

Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart

Chapter 306

XENOIS

Before the argument could escalate further, Lake turned to Ollie with something approaching a peace offering. “Once we get home,

you can teach me. If the offer’s still open.”

Ollie’s face lit up like someone had flipped a switch. “Really? Yeah, absolutely! I’ll show you all the best strategies, and there’s this

one level that’s really cool with the-”

“Are you going to join?” Lake interrupted, looking back at Riley with a challenge in his eyes.

Riley grumbled something under his breath that sounded distinctly like “this is a terrible idea,” but finally said, “Fine. I’ll play. But

only to make sure you’re not overdoing it.”

“My hero,” Lake said dryly, but I caught the small smile tugging at his lips.

The moment of détente was broken when Lake suddenly buried his face against Riley’s neck.

“Play the hearing game again,” he demanded, his voice muffled.

“I want to know what that car three feet ahead is talking about. Looks like some kind of commotion.”

I tensed, my hands tightening on the steering wheel. The hearing game. I’d heard them reference it before but hadn’t understood

what they meant.

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Now, as Riley closed his eyes and went very still, I realized with creeping dread that this was something we should have known about.

Riley’s eyes snapped open after a moment, and a wicked grin spread across his face. “Oh, this is good,” he said. “The woman is screaming at her husband for sleeping with her twin sister for months. The husband is defending himself, saying he had no idea it wasn’t

her.”

“No way,” Lake breathed, pressing closer to the window to try to see.

“How could he not know?”

“That’s what the wife is saying! She’s like, ‘my sister has an amputated leg, Gary! How did you not notice?””

They both dissolved into hysterical laughter, loud enough that I saw the couple in question turn to look at our car with matching expressions of mortification.

We passed them moments later, and I caught a glimpse of the woman’s face-red with either anger or embarrassment-as she realized strangers had somehow overheard their private argument.

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