"That’s excellent," Agnes said. She helped Lilith move more upright, adjusting pillows behind her back to support her.

"Your body is healing well," Agnes said. She poured tea into a cup "You’re stronger than you think. Younger bodies recover faster than older ones, thank goodness. Give it another few days and you’ll feel almost normal."

Lilith tore off a piece of bread and ate it slowly.

Agnes adjusted the tray on her laps properly.

Lilith looked at the contents on the tray again and realized that everything Agnes brought was chosen specifically to be gentle on a recovering body while still providing real nourishment.

Lilith looked at the spread and felt her appetite respond. Real hunger, and she started eating fast, like the tray could be taken away at any moment.

"Eat slowly," Agnes instructed. She moved about the room, opening the curtains wider to let more light in, checking the water pitcher by the bed. "Don’t rush. Your body has been through trauma. It needs time to remember how to function normally again."

Lilith picked up another piece of bread and bit into it carefully.

The flavor was simple but rich, the bread was well-made, with the kind of texture that suggested it had been baked fresh that morning. She chewed slowly, letting her body adjust to having real food again.

Agnes settled into the chair beside the bed, not leaving, just being present. The housekeeper’s presence was comforting in a way Lilith didn’t quite understand. There was no judgment in the older woman’s eyes. No condemnation. Just care and the understanding that came from decades of service.

Mrs Hallowell," Lilith said after she’d eaten a few bites of bread, "How long did you say that i was unconscious for?"

The housekeeper was quiet for a moment, considering the question carefully.

"More than twelve hours," Agnes said finally.

Lilith looked at her and then she looked down to the tray of food on her laps.

"Ours of blank space."

"What happened to me?" Lilith asked quietly. "What happened during those lost hours that I can’t remember?"

Agnes set down her cup of tea with careful precision. The movement was deliberate, giving her time to choose her words.

"You experienced something deeply traumatic," the housekeeper said gently. There was compassion in her voice, but also a firmness that suggested she’d been instructed on what to say and what to withhold. "Something so overwhelming that your mind decided the only way to protect you was to step back. To disconnect. Your body continued existing, but your consciousness removed itself. It’s a survival mechanism, when pain or fear becomes too great, the mind sometimes chooses to leave."

"But what caused it?" Lilith pressed. "What happened that was so traumatic my mind needed to escape like that?"

Agnes met her dark eyes directly, and in that moment, Lilith could see the weight of knowledge the older woman carried. Agnes knew exactly what had happened during those missing hours. Agnes had probably tended to her during that time. Agnes had probably witnessed the moment her mind had fractured. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"When you’re stronger," Agnes said, and her voice held both kindness and a finality that suggested this was where the conversation would end, "the Alphas will explain everything. What happened, why it happened, all of it. You deserve those answers, and they will give them to you. But not yet. Your mind and body are still healing from the trauma. Understanding what happened right now would be too much. You need time first."

Lilith wanted to argue. Wanted to demand answers. Wanted to know what had happened during those missing hours. What had been so brutal that her own mind had abandoned her to escape it.

But something in Agnes’s expression told her that pushing would be futile. The older woman had been instructed on what she could reveal, and she would hold that line no matter how desperately Lilith asked.

"The Alphas will tell me?" Lilith asked. Her voice was small.

"Yes," Agnes said. "When you’re ready. When your body has healed enough to handle the emotional weight of understanding. They will tell you everything."

Lilith accepted this because she had no choice. She turned her attention back to her food and tried not to think about what could have happened during those missing hours that would cause her mind to shatter so completely.

So instead, Lilith accepted the non-answer and returned to her bread.

They sat in companionable silence as Lilith ate. Agnes would occasionally offer her more tea, or suggest she try some of the fruit. The older woman’s presence was steady and grounding, a reminder that there was still gentleness in the world. That not everything was pain and confusion and blank spaces in her memory.

By the time Lilith had eaten her fill, the morning was advancing toward midday.

"You should rest," Agnes said, though Lilith had only just woken up. "Your body needs sleep to heal properly. Sleep is when the real recovery happens."

"I’m not tired," Lilith protested, even as her body made a liar of her. She was exhausted. Her eyelids felt heavy. But the thought of going back to sleep, of facing the dreams that came with unconsciousness, made her anxious.

"You will rest," Agnes said firmly, in the tone of someone used to being obeyed. "And if the dreams are troubling, you call for me. Do you understand? No matter what time it is, no matter what you’re experiencing, you call for me and I will come."

There was something in those words that penetrated Lilith’s resistance. The absolute certainty that Agnes meant what she said. The promise that she wouldn’t be alone if things became difficult.

Lilith nodded.

Agnes helped her lie back down, adjusting the pillows and blankets until she was comfortable. The older woman’s hands were gentle, her movements careful, the hands of someone accustomed to tending to the fragile.

"Rest now," Agnes said softly. "Your body knows what it needs."

Lilith closed her eyes and let herself drift toward sleep.