Chapter Five: When Denial Shatters.

Aurora woke to the blinding white of the hospital ceiling. The world around her was muffled, as though she were underwater. Her chest felt heavy, her throat raw, but the first thought that cut through the fog was of Elara.

Her baby.

She turned her head sharply, searching for the small figure that should have been curled beside her bed. Panic clawed at her chest when she saw only Cole, seated in the chair beside her, his face drawn and pale. His hand rested on hers, steady, almost too steady, as though he were holding himself together for her sake.

“Cole,” she rasped, her voice hoarse. “Where’s Elara? Where’s my baby?”

Cole’s expression flickered, pain flashing across his features. He swallowed hard, his voice low and careful. “Aurora…”

“No.” She sat up quickly, her breath coming in shallow bursts. The IV tugged at her arm, but she ignored it, gripping his sleeve with desperate fingers. “Don’t look at me like that. Where is she? Tell me she’s fine.”

Cole reached for her trembling hands, trying to still her. “Aurora… Elara is gone.”

The words struck like a thunderclap, but Aurora shook her head violently. “No! No, that’s not true. Don’t you dare say that.” Her eyes brimmed with tears, wide and wild with denial. “The doctor was fixing her. He said he’d fix her! And you—” her voice cracked, trembling with betrayal—“you promised me, Cole. You promised you’d help her. You said you’d find a cure!”

Cole’s chest constricted. He had faced outbreaks, plagues, human suffering in every form….but never this. Never the sight of Aurora, broken and unraveling as she clung to a hope that had already slipped through her fingers.

“I was going to,” he whispered, his voice thick with grief. “God knows I was going to.”

But Aurora wasn’t listening. She tore the IV out of her arm, the sting of the needle lost beneath her hysteria. Blood dotted her skin, but she barely noticed as she stumbled out of bed.

“Aurora, wait—!” Cole shot up, reaching for her, but she was already rushing for the door.

Her bare feet slapped against the sterile floor as she stormed down the corridor, her hospital gown trailing behind her. Nurses called after her, startled, but she didn’t stop until she burst into the emergency ward.

And then her world froze.

There, under the harsh fluorescent light, two nurses were gently wiping down a small, still body. Elara’s skin was pale, her lips tinged with blue. They were preparing her for the morgue.

“No!” Aurora’s scream tore through the ward like shattered glass. She shoved the nurses aside with a strength born of madness and collapsed over her daughter’s body.

“My baby!” she wailed, clutching Elara to her chest. “Don’t touch her! She’s just sleeping. Do you hear me? She’s fine, she’s just sleeping.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she rocked the little girl back and forth, pressing frantic kisses to her cold forehead. “Wake up, sweetheart. Mommy’s here. You’re okay now. What do you want to eat, hmm? Chicken soup? Pancakes? I’ll make anything you want when we get home.”

But the silence was merciless.

The nurses stood frozen, their eyes glassy with sorrow. Cole stood in the doorway, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white, his heart breaking as he watched the woman he once admired crumble in grief.

Dr. Henry approached cautiously, his tone gentle but firm. “Aurora…”

She glared up at him, her face streaked with tears, her arms clutching Elara like a shield. “Don’t you say it. Don’t you dare say she’s gone!”

The doctor’s voice softened further, his eyes heavy with compassion. “If we don’t transfer her now, decomposition will—”

“Shut up!” Aurora screamed, rocking her daughter harder, her words tumbling in broken sobs. “She’s not dead. She’s not! She just needs rest. She just needs me. I won’t let you take her. I won’t let anyone take her from me!”

Her voice cracked into a whisper as she buried her face in Elara’s hair. “I promised I’d protect you, baby. Mommy’s here. Nothing will happen to you. Nothing.”

Cole couldn’t breathe. The sight of Aurora clinging to Elara’s lifeless body, refusing to let go, tore at him in ways he couldn’t have imagined. His own tears burned hot as he turned away, his shoulders shaking.

Finally, Dr. Henry nodded at the nurses. His voice was thick with regret. “Sedate her. It’s the only way.”

A nurse stepped forward with the syringe, her hands trembling. Aurora struggled violently, her screams echoing down the corridor, until the sedative took hold and her body slackened, her head lolling against Elara’s chest.

Even unconscious, her arms were still curled protectively around her daughter until the nurses gently pried them apart.

The emergency ward doors opened, and the sound spilled into the hallway. Curious patients and visitors had gathered, whispers rippling through the crowd. Among them stood Xavier, Lilith, and Jaxon.

Jaxon clung to Xavier’s arm, he had an episode earlier and was brought to the hospital, his little face that looked slightly like Elara’s was pale. Xavier, distracted, frowned as he glanced at the commotion.

“What’s happening?” He asked a nearby nurse.

The nurse’s expression darkened with sorrow.”A woman just lost her child.”

For a fleeting second, Aurora and Elara’s faces flickered across Xavier’s mind. But he shook the thought away, dismissing it as absurd. It couldn’t be them. Not his family. Not like this.

If only he knew.

As Xavier turned back to Lilith and guided Jaxon down the hall, the ward doors opened again. Two stretchers rolled out, one carrying Aurora’s limp body, her face streaked with dried tears, and the other carrying Elara, small and still, shrouded in white.

One bound for the recovery ward.

The other for the morgue.

And Xavier walked away, unaware of how close he had come to the truth.