The first new leaf appears on a Sunday morning, exactly eleven days after Dr. Harada's emergency intervention.
I know this because Kevin has been tracking the recovery timeline with the precision of a NASA mission controller. Every morning, he sends a brief update to the Team Ficus group chat—a digital war room Sophie created the night of the emergency. The updates are clinical and precise, filled with phrases like "turgor pressure stabilizing" and "chlorophyll production resuming," but underneath the data I can feel his quiet, stubborn hope.
Today's update is different.
"New growth confirmed. Single leaf emerging from Node 7. Length: 1.2cm. Color: Vibrant green. Prognosis: Significantly improved. Survival probability recalculated to 78%."
Seventy-eight percent. Up from forty. Up from fifty-two. Up from every terrifying number that has kept me awake for the past eleven nights.
