The steady hum of the machines filled the ICU, a monotonous rhythm broken only by the soft hiss of the ventilator and the occasional beep of the heart monitor.The sterile air carried that faint, antiseptic tang that clung to hospitals like an unshakable ghost.Dorian’s eyes fluttered open slowly, the harsh white light making him squint.His throat felt raw, every breath a reminder of how close he’d been to the edge.The last thing he remembered before the darkness swallowed him whole was the image of Vera, blood on her face, her body crumpling, and the weight of regret pressing down like an anchor.When he saw her now, standing just outside the glass partition with Asher, a flicker of something unreadable passed through his gaze. He didn’t have much strength, but he had enough to croak out,“Vera… I need to speak to you. Alone.”The words rasped from his lips like dry paper tearing.Asher’s jaw tensed, his eyes narrowing slightly. For a moment, Vera thought he might refuse. But then,
Vera woke to the steady, rhythmic hum of machines.The smell of antiseptic hit her first, then the ache, deep, bone heavy, radiating from every place the bat had struck her.Her eyelids felt like lead, but she forced them open, squinting against the harsh hospital lighting.For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was.Then the memories crashed back.Eira’s screams.The crack of the bat.The sound of a gunshot that had been meant for her family.Dorian stepping in front of them.Her heart lurched.She tried to push herself upright, but a sharp pain tore through her ribs, forcing her back down. The IV tugged at her arm.A nurse appeared beside her, her tone calm but firm. “Easy. You’re safe now.”Safe.The word felt fragile. Like it could shatter if she breathed too hard.“Where’s my daughter?” Vera’s voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper.“She’s here,” the nurse said gently. “She’s resting. We… gave her something to help her sleep. The trauma... she needed the rest.”Vera’
A part of him wanted to fight, wanted to claw at the black curtain pulling him under, but another part… another part was tired. Bone deep tired.The faces of his past drifted through the void like ghosts.Vera.Her smile when they first met, the way she laughed with her whole body, how her hand would squeeze his in crowded places, not out of affection, but as a silent “I’m here with you.” She had been his anchor once. The thing that reminded him life could be better than the cards he’d been dealt.And he had ruined it.Not all at once. Not even intentionally, at first. But slowly. The way poison worked, not enough to kill immediately, but enough to turn everything sour.Then came Asher.The day Asher returned to Vera’s life, Dorian had felt something he didn’t want to admit to himself, fear. Not of Asher as a man, but of what Asher represented. A past Vera never truly buried. A love she never truly let go of.He could have been noble about it. Could have stepped aside if he really lov
The hospital lights were too bright.Too sterile.Too quiet.Too cruel.The hum of machines, the steady beep of monitors, and the staccato of urgent footsteps echoed through the corridors like a distant war drum, reminding everyone that lives hung in the balance just behind those white doors.Eira lay asleep, a child sized oxygen mask covering half her face. A nurse had gently sedated her when the screaming wouldn’t stop.Her small chest rose and fell in steady rhythm now, but the dark shadows beneath her eyes made her look years older than her age.Asher sat beside her, still in his bloodied clothes, his face pale and his head wrapped in gauze. His forehead had taken the brunt of the fall when one of the attackers slammed him into the concrete floor. A mild concussion, the doctors said. Nothing too threatening.But the damage wasn’t just in his skull.It was everywhere.Inside him.Around him.He hadn’t said a word since they arrived.The paramedics had barely pried Vera from Dorian’
Eira was still pressed against Asher’s side, her little face buried in his shoulder, unaware of the cold metal death pointed at them.Asher turned only slightly at the sound of Vera’s voice, eyes widening when he saw her push forward, arms outstretched.She was going to take the bullet.She knew it. She accepted it.Better her than Eira.Better her than Asher.But just as she was about to reach them, just as the man’s trembling finger began to squeeze the trigger...Another figure blurred into her path.“VERA, MOVE!”It was Dorian.His voice cracked like thunder.In that impossible second, Vera turned her head, eyes locking with his. His stride was sure, reckless, determined.And in that instant, as the final moment collapsed into action, Dorian’s body crashed in front of hers, shoving her back with one hand while the other spread wide to shield the entire family.The gun fired.A thunderclap.Vera’s ears rang as she fell back, stunned, not from the bullet, but from Dorian’s forceful
The room spun in fragments, shouts, gunfire, a child’s cry, blood slicked footsteps, and then, everything froze.A single shot rang out.Then another.Then two more.Vera flinched at the thunderclap of sound, her body instinctively tensing despite the agony it sent down her spine. She expected more pain. More violence.But instead, there was a sudden silence.Not peace.But silence.Her blurred vision caught flashes, movement in her peripheral. Heavy thuds. A body collapsing near the doorway. Another slumped backward with a gaping hole in his chest. One man dropped his weapon mid aim, surprise frozen on his face before he toppled forward.And in the center of it all, framed by the smoke curling in from the shattered window and the flickering lights overhead, stood Dorian Fontaine.His jaw clenched.His chest heaving.Gun raised.Eyes murderous.He was covered in dust and blood, not his. His coat flapped slightly from the wind breaking in through the blown out corner. His boots stepped