He looked toward the floor.
“I keep thinking about her being here alone.”
“She had staff.”
“Lawyers.”
“Security.”
“People.”
“But no one who…”
He stopped.
Daniel waited.
Alexander’s eyes reddened.
“We haven't been close.”
“Victoria and me.”
“For years.”
“She thought I sided with our father during a board fight.”
“I thought she cared more about company than family.”
“Then suddenly I’m standing beside her bed trying to decide whether she can hear me.”
Daniel looked through the glass wall toward corridor.
Alexander continued:
“Lena told me you played violin.”
“Accidentally first.”
“Yes.”
“That part is…”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Embarrassing?”
“Human.”
Alexander’s voice softened.
“Lena said her heart rate settled while you played.”
Daniel shook his head immediately.
“That could mean anything.”
“I know.”
“She might not hear.”
“I know.”
“I don't want this turned into…”
“Miracle story?”
“Yes.”
Alexander nodded.
“Neither do I.”
“Then what do you want?”
Alexander looked at him.
“I want her room to sound like someone expects her to still belong in the world.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
Alexander continued:
“I tried music from my phone.”
“It felt wrong.”
“I found playlists.”
“Wrong.”
“Then I saw your daughter’s drawing.”
He smiled weakly.
“A bird.”
“Her mother wrote the song.”
Daniel nodded.
“My wife.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Alexander looked down.
“Would you play?”
Daniel thought about Claire.
Emma.
Victoria.
A woman he did not know.
A brother trying to repair something while time might still allow it.
“I can play.”
So Daniel returned.
Not every day.
He had Emma.
Work.
Bills.
A life.
But twice that week he sat beside Victoria with Claire’s violin.
He never touched her.
Never spoke as if she knew him.
Never asked her to wake.
He simply played.
Sometimes Alexander stayed.
Sometimes Lena.
Sometimes no one.
Victoria never opened her eyes.
Not once.
There were no miraculous fingers moving.
No dramatic tears slipping from closed eyes.
No secret message hidden in monitor patterns.
Daniel appreciated that brutal honesty.
He did not need her to perform hope for him.
He was not there to be rewarded.
On the fifth visit, Alexander brought coffee.
They sat after Daniel finished.
“My sister paid for this floor.”
Daniel looked around.
“What?”
“The renovation.”
“Reynolds Health donated twelve million.”
Daniel glanced toward Victoria.
“Irony.”
“She hated naming rights.”
“She refused them.”
“That’s why you don’t see Reynolds anywhere.”
Daniel smiled.
“I like her already.”
Alexander laughed softly.