Sebastian's POV ~I hope she gets better.Goodness, I hope she gets better.It’s been two days since she opened her eyes, and although there’s been improvement, it’s still not enough for my heart to rest. She’s still so weak, still so pale, and the memory of seeing her weak body in that hospital bed still clings to the edges of my mind like a sickness I can’t cure.I want her back home.I want to wake up and not feel this hollow pit in my stomach. I want to walk downstairs and see her before I even get to the bottom step. I want see her smile when I walk in. I want to hear her voice smooth and beautiful. See her sway her hips as she walks.But instead, she’s confined to that sterile room.And I’m here.Getting dressed for another day that feels utterly wrong without her.The buttons on my shirt feel tighter this morning. Maybe because my chest is heavier. I fasten each one slowly, staring into the mirror as if it might offer reassurance. It doesn’t. My reflection stares back at me….ti
~ Helen’s POV ~Two days had passed.Two long, dragging days since I woke up from that terrifying darkness and yet, I still wasn’t fully myself. My body had begun responding, yes. I could feel my knees now. That alone had brought tears to my eyes yesterday. But they didn’t feel like my knees. It was as though I had been rewired, and my own body was trying to figure out how to work again.They told me to be patient.That healing takes time.But they weren’t the ones trapped in a body that felt foreign. They weren’t the ones who had tasted poison and returned from the edge of death.I stared at the ceiling as Dr. Ralia stepped in, holding her clipboard, her presence warm yet focused as always. She was the kind of doctor that made you feel like you weren’t just a case file….like your pain mattered.She came to my bedside and offered a small smile. “A physiotherapist will come in today to help you regain more movement,” she said gently, eyes scanning my vitals. “Meanwhile, I’ll run a toxi
~ Sebastian’s POV ~“You shouldn’t be too engrossed with her,” my mom said, sitting gently on the edge of my bed.Her voice was calm, but her words were heavy. They sank slowly into the silence between us, threatening the peace I was trying to find.I glanced at her from where I lay, eyes half-lidded with fatigue. Her presence was warm……motherly, but her words struck cold.Why? Why would she say that?“I understand that you care for her,” she continued, smoothing the fabric of the duvet between her fingers, “but your care will be mistaken by her. Don’t go making her fall for you… even if she does, she’ll have to shove it out.”She said it so effortlessly. So firmly. As if she had thought about it for a while and concluded that this was the only way to protect me….or maybe to protect her.But I didn’t need protecting. Not from Helen. Not from my own feelings.Because what my mom didn’t know, or maybe she knew and didn’t want to admit is that I wanted her to fall for me.Desperately.Th
~ Sebastian's POV ~Her smile melts my heart.Even in her fragile state….wrapped in white sheets, arms connected from countless IV lines, eyes rimmed red from fatigue….she smiles. And that smile… it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.But it breaks me too.Because I can’t take her home with me. Not yet.And that fact alone gnaws at me from the inside out.She's awake now, thank goodness for that. but she'll still be here for a while. At least a couple of nights, maybe more. The doctor insisted she needs time. Time to heal. Time for her body to stabilize. Time to recover properly.But time feels cruel when she’s lying there, looking at me like I’m her whole anchor. Like if I step too far away, she might sink.“A nurse will be here with her all through the night… so no worries,” the doctor assured, trying to soften the ache in my chest.“That will do,” I said, my voice low, hiding the storm I was fighting back.I hate the idea of leaving her in that sterile hospital room, surroun
~ Helen’s POV ~The door swung open with a soft creak, breaking the stillness of the hospital room. I turned my head slowly, startled by the sudden movement. Then, her warm, familiar face appeared.Mrs. Hartley.She walked in gracefully, her heels clicking gently on the white tiles, and the smile on her face….so wide, so full of light, wrapped itself around my weary heart. For a moment, everything faded: the wires, the machines, the pain. Just her smile… it reached right into me.Behind her, Mr. Hartley entered the room, tall and composed as always, his presence quiet but comforting. And then… Sebastian. His eyes met mine the instant he stepped in, and my chest tightened, not from pain but from something deeper, something I couldn’t name fully.But of course, love.“Good evening ma and sir,” I said softly, trying to muster a little strength, a little politeness despite how broken I felt.Mrs. Hartley walked over, her eyes studying me with motherly concern. “How are you feeling?” she a
~ Helen's POV ~A soft knock echoed in the room before the nurse stepped in, her presence bringing with it the faint scent of antiseptic and something floral….lavender maybe. Her gentle smile, although simple, wrapped around my aching heart like a thin blanket on a cold night. It didn’t fix everything, but for a second… It helped me breathe.“Hello miss,” she greeted, her voice soothing and soft, like a lullaby meant to quiet fear. “How are you feeling now?”She carried a silver tray carefully, balancing several injection bottles. She set it gently on the side table beside my bed, careful not to rattle the contents too loudly.Honestly I don't feel good.I don't feel good enough to be myself.Right now, even my memory fails me.My limbs? It doesn't respond to me.“Still the same,” I replied, barely able to push the words past the dryness in my throat. My voice scratched against the air, hoarse and brittle. “You’ll be fine,” she reassured, brushing her hand across my forehead in a mot