Chapter 17 - Awakening
Dawn was breaking over the Manhattan skyline when Dr. Aris finally emerged from the operating theater, peeling off her surgical cap. She looked exhausted but victorious. Both girls had survived the grueling procedures. Because we had retrieved the original surgical map from the vault, they were able to extract the devices without severing the spinal cords.
Hope’s extensive nerve damage meant she would likely require a wheelchair for the rest of her life, but the pain and the remote control were gone forever. Sophie’s nerve roots, however, remained viable. With intense, grueling rehabilitation, there was a strong chance she could regain her mobility. "No guarantees," Dr. Aris warned. But we had lived without guarantees for years; this was a foundation we could build upon.
When Sophie finally woke up, she was groggy and in pain, but the invisible, terrifying weight of Evelyn's control was absent. I held her hand as she concentrated, her brow furrowing in intense effort. Slowly, miraculously, she moved her big toe. Then the next. Tears welled in her eyes because the movement was so small. "The restaurant was a temporary signal interruption," I explained, wiping her tears. "This is your body doing it. This is real." Later, when Hope woke up, Elias sat by her bed. She looked at him for a long time. "You look older," she whispered. Elias chuckled, tears streaming down his face. "So do you."
