Not because of optimism.
Because of evidence.
Lucy’s brain scans showed tiny changes when Eli read. Her heart rate shifted at the sound of his voice. During one session, her left index finger moved when he reached the part of a story they had read together before the accident.
The response could have been reflex.
Whitaker refused to dismiss it.
“He comes every day?” Rook asked.
“Every day.”
“And the parents?”
Whitaker looked toward Eli before answering.
“They love their children. Grief doesn’t always make people brave.”
After the ninth month, Lucy’s mother, Laura, began suffering panic attacks whenever she entered the hospital. Her father, Ben, started drinking heavily and lost his job at a machine shop. Their visits turned into arguments about bills, treatment, and whether keeping hope alive was helping Lucy or hurting everyone else.
They stopped coming.
Whitaker never called them heartless. Neither did Eli.
