Chapter 91

Warning: SPG

The hallway felt colder than before, as if the news itself had drained the warmth out of the entire hospital.

Ethan stood in front of me, shoulders tight, jaw frozen, eyes unfocused.

“They found a bone marrow donor,” he said, voice low, rough, as if each word was scraping his throat raw. “They’re prepping Ember for the operation in the next few hours.”

My breath stilled. A donor. Hope, sharp and too bright, stabbed through me, mingling with fear.

“Thank God,” I whispered.

Ethan only nodded. He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t relieved. He looked… hollow. Like the floor had dropped beneath him and he was still falling.

A nurse called him to sign something. He went stiffly, not speaking a word. I watched his back as he walked away. The slump of his shoulders. The tremor in his fingers when he handed the pen back.

When he returned, he didn’t look at me. Not once.

He just said, “Stay with her,” and turned away.

Within a minute, he was gone, disappearing down the corridor, past the e