LOGINStella’s POVMegan stayed longer than she intended, fussing over me, fussing over Ferguson, then fussing at Jonathan before finally declaring she’d “seen enough drama for a lifetime.”“Alright, I’m heading out before one of you faints again,” she said, standing and grabbing her purse.“You’re not even going to wait until he gets discharged?” I asked.She pointed at Ferguson. “He’s breathing, talking, and already making eyes at you. My job here is done.”Jonathan, leaning on the doorframe, grinned. “You sure? I could use a witness when these two start…”Megan threw her purse strap over her shoulder. “Finish that sentence and I’ll throw my shoe at you. Didn't you just leave a few minutes ago?”Jonathan laughed. “See? My type.”“Goodbye, Jonathan,” Megan and I said in unison.He winked. “You two take care. And Ferg… try not to crash again unless it’s into her arms next time.”I groaned while Ferguson smirked. “Out,” he said, jerking his chin toward the door.“Going, going,” Jonathan said
Stella’s POVIt felt as though a lifetime to the hospital. The lights in the city faded to a point of view through the window, each of them being corkscrewed into a popping point of panic and guilt. I could not stop beating on my heart. With each blink of the eye, I would see the name of Ferguson flashing on my phone and the message he tried to say to me, and it sounded too close to goodbye.Megan sat down next to me and my hand was clenched. "We'll get there soon, Stella. Just breathe, okay?"I replied with a nod because I could not say anything because my throat was too tight. It was impossible on the one hand to breathe when each distinction brought me nearer and nearer to what I was so afraid of hearing.We came to a halt before St. Luke’s Hospital. I tossed up some bills to the driver and ran quickly. The door swung open as cold air blasted out upon me.“Excuse me,” I said, barely able to catch my breath, “I’m looking for a patient, Ferguson Alonso. He was brought in not long ago
Stella’s POVMegan was banging the door ajar as she shouted before me into her apartment all the way the other side of the room.“Alright, calm down, I got news," she began with a dramatic kicking of her footwear. “But I have just seen someone who resembled Ferguson.”I froze mid-step. "What?"She then threw her shopping bags onto the counter and her eyes were opened and full of life. “I swear, I almost waved at him. Same height, same face, same brooding energy. He was coming out of a fancy car near the corner café. If it wasn’t him, then he’s got a twin walking around town.”A small, tired smile crept across my lips. “That wasn’t Ferguson.”Her brows furrowed. “Then who?”“It was his father,” I said quietly, sitting down on the edge of the couch. “He came here earlier.”That stopped her cold. “Wait, what? He came here? As in Ferguson’s father? The scary one who talks like he owns the weather?”“The very one,” I muttered, leaning back.Megan gaped. “Oh my God. What did he want?”I rub
Stella’s POVThe sunlight hit my eyes before my alarm did. I blinked, slowly turning to face the nightstand where my phone was buzzing. A faint groan escaped my lips too early for anything.Then I saw his name.Ferguson.I rubbed my eyes, squinting at the long text that filled my screen.> I don’t know where to start, so I’ll start with sorry.For not being there when you needed me. For letting you get hurt. For every damn thing I should’ve protected you from but didn’t.I do not want you to be forgiving but I would like you to be aware of the fact that I would never betray you. Not in that way. That, whatever you saw, is not what you think it is. I will tell you all about it, I swear.You are the first one who has ever made me feel like a human being again, Stella. It has just seemed impossible to me to take my mind off the only one that I cannot help thinking about.I have really done a lot of things wrong but I love you and I am not regretful about that. FAs I read it my breath f
Ferguson’s POVPresent dayI should’ve seen it coming.Claudia always played dirty. Always.The moment I woke up to Jonathan’s call and saw the news headlines flashing across every screen, I knew exactly who was behind the so-called “exclusive leak” of me and Claudia at that damn bar. The angle, the timing, the way she tilted her head just enough for it to look mutual.She knew what she was doing.Jonathan had already gone into full crisis mode, calling in every favor we had with the press. “I’ve got the narrative under control,” he’d said. “I made sure Stella doesn’t see the full clip. Just go fix your end before this explodes.”So I did.Or at least, I was about to.---My hands clutched to the steering wheel such that my knuckles were whitened. The engine of the car sounded and the empty road squirreled away and my mind was swirling with all that I could say to her no, all that I could hurl at her.The treachery did not even come as a surprise to me anymore. What burned was that sh
Ferguson’s POV*A day earlier*The glass grated against the counter again. I had lost track of the number of them. Whisky, rum, anything they had. I simply needed to have a quiet head and this was the only means by which I could achieve that quietness.Even the alcohol burning could not make her drown.Stella.I had the photo of her lying there on that hospital bed etched in my memory, the paleness of her skin and how she trembled a little in her voice when she answered that she was fine. Fine. She wasn't fine. She might have died, and I never had been there.My hand crept down my face, and I gave a sharp, desperate sigh. “You're a pathetic weakling of a thing,” I said to myself. "You couldn't even protect her."The bartender looked at me nervously on the farther end of the counter. “Are you certain you do not wish you were on water, sir?”“Just pour,” I flattered, tapping the rim of the glass.He hesitated but obeyed. The glass was struck by a gentle splash of the liquid on the botto







