Chapter 142

Ramon POV

“I should be asking you that,” I said, eyeing his careful movements. “Should you even be out of bed?”

“Rhodes cleared me for short walks,” Troy said. “And I needed to see Ollie. Needed to know he was okay. Ramon, I’m so sorry. If I’d been stronger, if I’d fought harder—”

“Don’t,” I interrupted. “Troy, you got stabbed trying to protect them. You did everything you could.”

“It wasn’t enough,” Troy said, his voice thick with guilt. “Samuel took them anyway. Hurt them anyway. And now Ollie—”

“Now Ollie’s alive,” I said firmly. “Because you gave Lake and Ollie those crucial seconds to try to run. Because you drew Samuel and Frank’s attention. Troy, you’re a hero. Don’t let guilt tell you anything different.”

Troy nodded, but I could see he didn’t quite believe it. Trauma had a way of twisting our perceptions, making us blame ourselves for things beyond our control. He’d need time to work through that, probably therapy, definitely suppo