Chapter 30: One Hand

The second heartbeat woke him. It moved beneath Evan's sternum, slow and heavy, while the monitor above his bed kept a faster rhythm. He put two fingers to his wrist. Ninety-four. The green line agreed. The beat inside him came again. Forty-something. Strained. Familiar. Su. Sunlight struck pearl-white scale. Her wedding ring shook in his palm. Forty feet of muscle uncoiled across the festival lawn, broad smoke-gray markings sliding past until his eyes could no longer take in her body. His heart broke into useless motion. The seawall hit his back. Water sealed over his face. Evan pulled air through his nose. The oxygen tubing tugged at his cheeks. Harborview assembled around him: ceiling tiles, infusion pump, blood pressure cuff, daylight leaking around the blinds. His cracked glasses lay folded on the bedside table. Both hands shook. The monitor alarmed. A nurse came through the door and silenced it. "Evan,…