The white paper stood out starkly against the dark wool.

Nathan saw it, let go of my wrist, and bent down to pick it up.

He smoothed the paper out with his thumb, reading the fragment.

It was the corner of the page with his own signature on it.

He looked up at me, his face devoid of emotion.

“You shouldn’t have been looking through my things,” he said.

“What is ZX-44, Nathan?” I demanded, my voice cracking.

“It is medicine,” he said.

“It’s an experimental drug,” I said, my voice rising. “It’s not approved for humans. You are drugging your own mother.”

Nathan took a step closer to me, his shadow falling over my face.

“Keep your voice down,” he whispered, gesturing toward Lily’s room across the hall.

“You are going to kill her,” I whispered back, tears stinging my eyes.

“I am keeping her safe,” he said.

He held the torn scrap of paper tightly in his fist, crushing it.

“Safe?” I asked. “By forcing her into a coma-like sleep every night so she can’t speak?”

“You don’t understand the situation,” he said.