Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Ethan was afraid.

The fear gnawed at him from the inside, vicious and relentless, but he did not let it show. Not for a second. Not in front of his mother. Not in front of Levi. Not in front of the pack who hovered anxiously outside his doors. He wore his bravery like armour rigid, unyielding, because Meadow needed strength, not a man unraveling beside her bed.

Minutes crawled by with unbearable slowness.

Then, finally, Meadow stirred.

At first, it was only a faint twitch of her fingers. A shallow shift of her shoulders beneath the blankets. Ethan leaned forward, in his wheelchair instantly, his hands gripping the armrests so tightly his knuckles bleached white.

“Meadow,” he whispered. “Meadow, I’m here.”

Her eyelids fluttered.

She opened her eyes.

But she did not see him.

Her gaze darted wildly across the room, Amber, Levi, Joseph, the doctor, her pupils blown wide with terror, as if she had woken into a nightmare with no familiar faces. Her breathing quickened. Her chest heaved violently.

Then,

She screamed.

The sound tore through the room like a blade.

It was raw, Piercing. Unmistakably human.

Not a whimper.

Not a gasp.

A full, terrified scream ripped straight from her throat.

Everyone froze.

Meadow clawed at her own neck in panic, her fingers scraping desperately at her skin as if she were trying to tear the sound back out of herself. Her body jerked violently for a few seconds, eyes wild, mouth open in another soundless cry,

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Then she collapsed back against the pillows.

And passed out again.

Silence crashed over the room in a suffocating wave.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

They all stared at Meadow as if reality itself had cracked open.

Amber’s hands trembled uncontrollably. Her lips parted in disbelief. “Did I… did I imagine that?” she whispered, her voice barely

there.

Joseph swallowed hard. “No, Mother. The sound came from Meadow’s lips. She screamed.”

Ethan said nothing.

He couldn’t.

His mind was still caught on that single, impossible sound. The voice that was not supposed to exist. The voice that had torn free for one terrifying moment before vanishing again.

The doctor surged forward at last, snapping them all back into motion. He moved quickly to Meadow’s side, checking her pulse, shining a light into her eyes, pressing fingers to her neck, her wrists.

Ethan explained everything in a rush, the fall, the convulsions, the blood, the scream. His voice stayed eerily calm as he spoke, but inside, his heart was splintering apart piece by piece.

As the doctor examined her, Meadow stirred again.

This time, when her eyes opened…

Recognition returned.

She looked at Ethan.

At Amber.

At Joseph.

Her fear faded, replaced by confusion.

Slowly, she lifted one trembling hand.

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Chapter 89

She tried to speak.

Nothing came out.

Her mouth opened.

No sound followed.

The room held its breath.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

She was mute once more.

The doctor stepped back slowly, disbelief shadowing his expression. Even he looked as though he doubted what he had just

witnessed.

“Physically,” he said carefully, “her human form is in good condition. Her throat, her vocal cords, everything is intact.

Ethan’s eyes sharpened. “Then how did she scream?”

The doctor hesitated. “What is wrong with Luna Meadow is not rooted in her human body.”

Joseph leaned forward. “Then where?”

“In her wolf.”

The words dropped heavily into the room.

“There is a disconnect,” the doctor continued. “Between her wolf and her human self. I don’t know how to explain it properly, but they are not aligned. Her wolf may be holding what her human form suppresses. I strongly advise that she sees a wolf therapist.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Why a wolf therapist?”

“Because they work directly with the inner wolf,” the doctor replied. “They may not know the cause of the cure right away, but if they can reach her wolf, they will uncover things hidden even from her conscious mind.” ()

Meadow shook her head immediately.

Her eyes widened with sudden fear.

Her hands moved urgently.

No. I do not want to see a wolf therapist.

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Ethan saw the terror on her face instantly.

Not reluctance.

Not doubt.

Fear.

Pure and suffocating.

Memories surged through her, too sharp, too vivid.

The last therapist.

The cold hands.

The invasive questions.

The way she had been treated like a broken thing instead of a girl.

And what had happened to her mother after that.

Ethan rolled his chair closer to the bed without hesitation and reached for her hands, cradling them gently between his own.

“It’s okay,” he murmured softly. “We won’t do anything you do not want.”

It was a lie.

A gentle one.

Because he would not let this go unresolved.

A perfectly healthy scream had torn from her throat.

There was nothing wrong with her larynx.

Which meant the silence was not physical.

It was buried somewhere deeper.

Psychological.

Spiritual.

Or something far more dangerous.

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He would find the truth.

Even if he had to coax it out of the shadows piece by piece.

Everyone eventually filed out of the room.

Joseph left first, his face tight with worry.

The doctor followed, still shaking his head in faint disbelief.

Then Levi stepped aside, allowing Amber to remain.

She approached the bed slowly, as if Meadow might shatter if she moved too quickly.

“Meadow, please,” Amber said softly.

The plea in her voice was unmistakable.

Meadow lifted one hand and signed weakly.

You need not worry. I am fine, Luna.

Ethan translated for his mother.

That was when Amber finally noticed.

Her gaze snapped from Meadow’s hands to Ethan’s face.

“You understand sign language?” she asked in shock. “When? How?”

Ethan smiled faintly. “I had to find a way to communicate with my wife without people present.”

It was meant as a joke.

But the weight behind it was unmistakable.

Amber stared at him with new eyes.

And Meadow did too.

Because you cannot learn a language like that overnight.

He must have started from the day she arrived.

Studied in secret.

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Practised in silence.

Struggled through every wrong movement just to reach her.

Her chest tightened painfully.

For the first time since the convulsions, warmth returned to her eyes.

Amber said nothing more.

She only nodded slowly.

Then she turned and left with Levi.

The door closed softly behind them.

And at last,

They were alone.

Ethan leaned forward slightly in his wheelchair, his hand still wrapped protectively around Meadow’s.

“You scared me,” he whispered.

She looked at him.

And for the first time that night…

She nodded.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna