Night wrapped the city in its quiet cloak, thick and heavy, like a breath held too long. The hospital's fluorescent lights buzzed faintly — cold, persistent, unyielding — making the small room feel too sharp, too real. Outside, rain started again, soft at first, then steady, tapping a rhythm on the windowpane that was almost a heartbeat.
Maya lay back, her fingers tracing the rough fabric of the bedsheet, but her mind raced faster than the raindrops outside. Liam was there beside her, but the space between them was charged, electric, filled with the things they couldn't say.
He reached out, brushing his fingers over hers — not quite a touch, but close enough to remind her he was still there.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice cracked, barely more than a whisper.
He looked away, eyes dark and flickering like a storm held back by sheer will. "I thought if I did, I'd lose you. I wanted to keep you safe."
"But hiding it feels like a different kind of danger." She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat heavy and raw. "We're already tangled in this storm, Liam. We can't keep pretending."
Outside, the rain slid down the glass in uneven streaks, scattering the city lights into a blur — reds, blues, golds — like memories bleeding into one another.
Liam's hand tightened on hers, steady and grounding. "I'm here. I'm not walking away. Not now. Not ever."
She looked up at him, searching his face for the truth beneath the shadows, and for one shaky moment, hope flickered. A fragile flame in the dark.
The sudden beep of the monitor shattered the silence, harsh and insistent. Her pulse jumped in time with the sound — fast, uneven — a wild drum in a quiet room.
"We don't have much time," she said softly, voice thick with fear and fierce determination. "Whatever comes next... we face it together."
He nodded, leaning closer, breath warm against her skin. "Together."
Outside, the rain hammered harder, wind howling through empty streets like a restless ghost. But inside, two hearts beat — fragile, fierce — refusing to give in to the night.