About what you proposed...

Chapter 7

Aurora’s POV

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get any sleep that night. It was like we were two strangers measuring each other up for battle.

I lay on the stiff hotel mattress, eyes fixed on the ceiling, watching the shadows shift as the city outside never truly went quiet. The phone call with Jace replayed over and over, the sharp edge of his voice, the demand woven into his every word.

Come back to me.

I’d spent years building walls inside myself, teaching my heart to beat without him. And yet the sound of his voice had shaken those walls until cracks appeared, until everything I thought I had buried threatened to rise again. The fact that he had this much hold over me was unsettling. I couldn't understand it.

But it wasn’t just Jace keeping me awake. It was the silence that came after.

Especially from the one person who had been a confidant years ago, my brother.

I had sent him a message yesterday. Just a simple plea for help. For one word, one flicker of acknowledgment. I’d stared at my phone until my eyes blurred, waiting for the screen to light up with his name. But that was a futile action because nothing happened. There was absolutely nothing from him.

I tried again. I typed out another message, then deleted it before I hit send. My fingers trembled when I called his line, holding my breath through every ring until his voicemail picked up. I didn’t bother leaving a message. What was the point? His silence was louder than anything he could say.

Every time I called, I got his voicemail. At some point, he switched his phone off. So he knew I was calling him, he just didn’t want to answer.

By the time dawn painted faint streaks of light across the city, I knew. I was truly, completely alone.

The weight of it pressed down on my chest as I moved through the motions of packing. My belongings were pitifully few, just enough clothes to fit into a single bag, the photo I couldn’t bear to part with, and the paperwork that had driven me here in the first place.

There was no point in staying in New York. Jace wasn’t going to help me. My family had turned their backs. And every hour I wasted here was an hour stolen from Alex.

The thought of him cut deeper than anything else.

My sweet boy. My fighter. His smile was the only thing that could still ground me, the only reason I hadn’t collapsed beneath the weight of it all. But I wasn’t with him now. I wasn’t by his bedside. I wasn’t there when he needed me.

I zipped my bag shut with a sharp motion, my throat tightening. Enough. I had to get back to France. At least there, if I couldn’t find help, I could hold him. I could let him feel my presence, my love. Even if the world abandoned us, he wouldn’t have to face it alone.

I booked a cab to the airport, each minute dragging as I waited for it to arrive. My heart thudded with a dull rhythm, exhaustion and despair intertwining until I felt hollow.

And then, my phone rang.

I nearly dropped it in my rush to snatch it from the nightstand. The name on the screen made my breath catch.

Kelsey.

A thousand thoughts slammed into me at once. Why was she calling now? Has something happened? Was Alex…

My throat closed around his name before I could even think of it.

“Kelsey?” My voice was sharp, urgent.

“Aurora.” Her voice cracked, and my heart lurched. “I had to take him back to the hospital.”

The air fled my lungs. “What? Why? What happened?”

“He woke up crying,” she said quickly, her words tumbling over one another. “He was in so much pain, more than usual. He said his chest hurt, and he couldn’t breathe properly. I didn’t want to risk waiting it out, so I rushed him to the ER. They’re running tests now. He’s stable, but…” She broke off, and in the silence, I heard her swallow hard. “He’s scared, Aurora. He kept asking for you.”

She sounded as hurt as I felt. The world blurred. The street noise outside, the rumble of the approaching cab, the rush of blood in my ears, it all faded until there was only that sentence. He kept asking for you.

I pressed a trembling hand to my forehead, trying to breathe. Trying to think. But all I felt was the crushing weight of being thousands of miles away while my son needed me.

“Stay with him,” I whispered, though my voice shook so badly the words nearly fractured. “Please, don’t leave him for a second.”

“I won’t. I promise, I’m his aunt, remember?” Kelsey said softly, making me smile. “Just… hurry, Aurora. He needs you.”

The call ended, leaving me clutching the phone like it was the only tether keeping me upright. My knees nearly buckled.

No. I couldn’t afford to collapse. Not now. Not when Alex was in pain, not when he needed more than my love, he needed treatment, real treatment, the kind only a match could give him. Something I didn't have.

Which left me with one name. One man.

My hands shook as I scrolled to Jace’s number, hesitating only for a heartbeat before pressing call.

He picked up on the second ring and that was too fast for Jace.

“Aurora?” He asked and I could picture his brows scrunched in confusion.

“I need to see you,” I said without preamble.

“I’m at work. I’m in a meeting.”

Liar. The word screamed through my mind. Jace Carter did not answer calls in meetings. He especially wouldn’t answer mine.

“This is about what you proposed,” I forced out, my throat tight.

There was a beat of silence, and then his voice shifted, sharpened with something I couldn’t name. Relief? Joy? I wasn't sure.

“Come to my office.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, my reflection warped on the black screen. My pulse thundered in my ears, each beat a reminder of what I was about to do.

For Alex.

Always, only for Alex.