Masuk°Jeremy’s POV°The wedding planning started almost immediately.Like grief had a deadline.Invitations. Venues. Guest lists. Fabric swatches…..All laid out on the dining table that used to be ours. Amy moved through it all with this strange efficiency—calm, focused, like if she slowed down for even a second, something might catch up to her.I stayed out of it of course.Not because I didn’t care…..because caring felt like pressing on a bruise just to remind myself it was there.Sometimes I’d come home and hear her on the phone, pacing, talking about flowers or colors or seating arrangements. Her voice sounded lighter than it had in months….not happier….just… resolved.Nathan was around more too.Always polite and always saying the right things at the right time.Steady.The house felt smaller the closer the wedding got, even Marcus started avoiding lingering too long in shared spaces.One evening, I went to pay Nathan a visit, I had started to accept that I was never going to earn
°Jeremy’s POV°Amy didn’t come by when I got discharged.Not because she couldn’t.She just… didn’t.I told myself it was nothing. She’d been around while I was in the hospital. She’d talked to me. Held my hand. Yelled at doctors when they got too close.So yeah. She knew I was fine.Maybe she just needed space.Marcus showed up with the driver late afternoon.He didn’t say much. Just that quiet smile of his, the one that made it hard to tell if he was amused or already ten steps ahead of everyone else.“It’s good to have you back,” he said, opening the door.I got in.“I heard about the nurse,” I said on the drive.“Yeah,” he replied. “Unfortunate.”That was Marcus for you.“We’ll compensate her family,” I muttered. “Do right by them.”He nodded. “Of course.”The rest of the ride passed quietly.When we got home, the house felt… off.Not empty. Just wrong.Amy’s jacket was on the chair. Her shoes by the door.She was home.I walked inside and found her in the kitchen, leaning against
°Jeremy's POV °“Ohh…” I groaned, my head aching badly as if something had clogged the veins in my forehead, at first all I could see was a blur vision of white coats, and the sound of metal against metal….I heard the muffled voice of a man saying “stop the bleeding” …. the room was filled with a mix of nauseating scents, my heart raced faster than it should , sweat trickled down the sides of my face, and my mouth tasted bitter…“He's gaining consciousness!” One female voice alarmed the rest of the people there, and that was when I felt something sharp pierce my skin.But I felt worse….“The sedative isn't working!” The terrified lady announced again, she was reeking with anxiety.“Give him more!” The man thundered.“Giving him more will only speed up the wolfsbane,” Another lady argued with confidence.“Doc, I think he's shifting!” The terrified lady announced, this time she was rather surprised.Was I? I didn't feel anything….it was like I'd been swallowed by a black hole, but my bo
°Jeremy's POV°I stood in the kitchen doorway, coffee in hand, watching Amy pack Eli's lunch like it was a job she had to do perfectly even though I'd told her countless times to let the maids take care of it, but Amy didn't listen anyway, claiming that no one could take care of her son any better. Our little guy was at the table, legs swinging, telling us about how he was gonna be a firefighter-astronaut today. The driver honked outside. Eli hopped down, backpack bouncing, and ran for his hugs. He squeezed my leg first, then launched at Amy. She knelt, fixed his crooked name tag, kissed his cheek."Be good, okay? Mommy loves you.""Love you more!" he yelled, already out the door.The door slammed and the house went quiet.I waited a beat, then tried again. "So... tonight. The meeting."Amy didn't look up. She was sealing Eli's juice box with more focus than it needed…. "Jeremy.""Come on. It's one meeting. Elders just wanna talk pack business."She zipped the lunch bag, and finally
°Jeremy's POV°I stood in the doorway watching Amy chop vegetables like her life depended on getting the carrots perfectly even. The knife thumped against the cutting board in a steady rhythm. Eli was upstairs showering off playground dirt, singing some made-up song about dinosaurs at the top of his lungs.Amy hadn’t looked at me once since we got home.I leaned against the frame, arms crossed. “Need help?”She shook her head without turning. “I got it.”Okay. Cool. Silence it was.I walked in anyway, grabbed a bell pepper from the pile, and started slicing. She glanced over, golden eyes narrowing for a second, then went back to her carrots.We worked like that for a few minutes…..side by side, not talking, just the sound of knives and Eli’s off-key singing drifting down the stairs.Finally she spoke. “You don’t have to babysit me in the kitchen, Jeremy.”“Not babysitting,” I said. “Helping. There’s a difference.”She snorted softly. “Sure.”I set my knife down. “Amy.”She kept chop
°Amy's POV° “ I know…..I’m sorry,” he said. “I lost it back there. I know. I shouldn’t have…..” “That is all you can say?” The words snapped out before I could soften them. I turned to him, eyes burning. “ If we’d hit that car, if something had happened to me…..to Eli waiting at home—” My voice cracked on Eli’s name. Jeremy’s jaw tightened. He looked out the windshield, hazel eyes fixed on nothing. “I know what I took from you.” “No,” I whispered. “You don’t. You really don’t.” He dragged a hand through his brown hair, pushing it back from his face. It fell right back into place, messy the way it always did when he was stressed. “Tell me, then. Yell at me. Whatever you need. Just… don’t shut me out again.” I laughed, but it came out wet. “You want me to yell? Fine. You scared the hell out of me. You always do this—get angry, push too hard, drive too fast, like the world has to bend because you’re mad. And I’m the one left shaking.” His head dropped. “ That's not what I’m trying







