Chapter 28

In the hospital after the street attack, Elsie endures forced cheer from staff and an X-ray that confirms a clean wrist fracture. Despite protesting an overnight stay, Elsie privately welcomes the safety of company and struggles with shaken nerves and intrusive images of the dreadlocked attacker.

Daphne arrives, indignant and protective, and Elsie recounts how the assailants used a water pistol filled with blood, causing her fall. The nurses insist on observation. Peter waits at Elsie’s bedside, determined to stay, and his steady kindness threatens Elsie’s hard-shell composure.

Persephone and Roxanne visit after Persephone is cleared without injury. Persephone thanks Elsie and, with Peter’s teasing support and Daphne’s quick hunt for a marker, becomes the first to sign Elsie’s cast. Peter openly calls Elsie a hero for shielding Persephone, a label Elsie deflects with gruff humor.

Roxanne abruptly ends the visit, hustling Persephone out. Elsie senses Roxanne’s haste stems not just from the ward’s indignities but from lingering fear, underscoring the ongoing tension after the attack even as Elsie’s circle closes ranks around her.