Chapter 126 The fight she left behind

Katelyn’s POV It still didn’t feel real. Sometimes I would walk into Rachel’s hospital room and just stand there, staring at her body that looked so small under the sheets, waiting for her to blink, or shift, or speak. But nothing ever happened. The machines continued their soft, steady beeping, like a lullaby mocking the silence. Every breath she took came with effort, every hour stretched into another reminder that she was still here… but not really. I knew what the doctors had said. That even if she woke up, the damage to her spinal cord was likely permanent. That she might never walk again. That she might not even move on her own. They used words like “lifelong paralysis” and “diminished quality of life.” They tried to cushion it, to make it sound manageable, but it wasn’t. Not to me. I didn’t just lose a friend. I lost the bright, fearless woman who stood beside me through the worst days of my life. I lost her laughter. Her ambition. Her voice. I didn’t scream. I didn’t break anyt