“What?” I whispered, because that was the only word my mouth could form.
Alex took a breath that looked like it hurt him to draw in. “The healer confirmed it this morning,” he said. “The impact, the stress, the fall. You were already bleeding before. She said your body could not hold onto it.”
I blinked at him, but nothing happened inside me. My brain rejected the information outright, as if the words reached my ears and then dissolved before they could become real. I shook my head slowly, once, then again, because no part of this made sense.
“No,” I said quietly at first, and then again, louder. “No. You are lying.”
Alex stiffened. “I am not lying.”
“You are saying this to make me stay,” I continued. “You are manipulating me. You are just like him. You are just like Connor. You think
