LOGINAlexander's POV They came for her at seven in the morning. I'd been awake since four, sitting on the edge of her bed in the grey half-light, watching her sleep. She'd finally drifted off around three, one hand curled loosely against her stomach, her lashes dark against skin that had gone far too pale over the past weeks. I'd memorized the sight of her. Every line of her face. The small crease between her brows that never quite smoothed out, even in sleep. *Not the last time,* I told myself. *This is not the last time.* Then the door opened, and the world began moving faster than I could follow. Two nurses in pale blue scrubs. A gurney. A clipboard, a quiet voice reading through a checklist. Lily stirred, blinking up at the ceiling, and I watched the moment she remembered, the small, sharp intake of breath, the way her fingers tightened against the blanket. "It's time," she whispered. "It's time." I brushed the hair back from her forehead, my hand not quite steady. "Good morning
Lily's POVThey admitted me on a Thursday, the particular grey, ordinary kind of Thursday that made the whole thing feel somehow more unfair, as though a crisis this large deserved better weather, a more dramatic sky, something to mark the day as different from any other.Instead it just rained, steady and unremarkable, the drops tracking slow lines down the window of my hospital room while a nurse fitted the monitor band around my stomach and explained, gently, that Dr. Patel wanted me here properly now, under close observation, rather than trusting twice-weekly appointments to catch anything sudden."Just a precaution," she said, the particular practiced reassurance of someone who said the phrase often enough that it had worn smooth. "Your blood pressure's been trending up the last two visits, and at eight months, with everything else you're managing, he'd rather have you close.""How long?" I asked, though some part of me had already guessed the answer wouldn't be simple."Until de
Alexander's POV They came for her at seven in the morning. I'd been awake since four, sitting on the edge of her bed in the grey half-light, watching her sleep. She'd finally drifted off around three, one hand curled loosely against her stomach, her lashes dark against skin that had gone far too pale over the past weeks. I'd memorized the sight of her. Every line of her face. The small crease between her brows that never quite smoothed out, even in sleep. *Not the last time,* I told myself. *This is not the last time.* Then the door opened, and the world began moving faster than I could follow. Two nurses in pale blue scrubs. A gurney. A clipboard, a quiet voice reading through a checklist. Lily stirred, blinking up at the ceiling, and I watched the moment she remembered, the small, sharp intake of breath, the way her fingers tightened against the blanket. "It's time," she whispered. "It's time." I brushed the hair back from her forehead, my hand not quite steady. "Good morning,
Alexander's POV The scan was supposed to be routine. I'd stopped noticing them by then. Every morning a nurse wheeled in the ultrasound cart, every morning Lily squeezed my hand while the gel went on cold, and every morning the little room filled with that quick, fluttering heartbeat that had become the only sound in the world I truly trusted. That morning, the technician went quiet. I noticed it before Lily did. The way her eyes stayed fixed on the screen a beat too long. The way her hand stilled on the probe, then moved it back over the same spot, slower this time. "Is something wrong?" I asked. "I'd like Dr. Patel to take a look," the technician said, keeping her voice light and even. "Just to be safe." Just to be safe. I'd been hearing that phrase for weeks, and I'd learned exactly what it meant. Lily's fingers tightened around mine. "Alexander," she whispered. "I'm here." I bent closer, pressing my lips to her knuckles. "I'm right here." --- Dr. Patel arrived within mi
Alexander's POV The house was too quiet without her. I stood in the front hallway with my keys still in my hand, listening to the silence settle around me, and felt the particular hollow ache I'd started bracing for every time Grandma Rose finally convinced me to leave the hospital for a few hours. *Go home,* she'd said that morning, with the firm tone she'd used on me since I was a boy. *Shower. Eat something real. See your daughter. Lily will still be there when you get back.* I'd argued for ten minutes before Lily herself told me to go, her voice soft and tired, her hand warm against my cheek. "I'll be fine," she'd whispered. "Go be with Alena. She needs you too." So I'd gone. And now I stood in a house that smelled faintly of lilies and baby powder, that felt like a place I'd forgotten how to live in without her moving through it. --- Alena heard the door before I'd even set the keys down. I caught the sound of small, uneven footsteps racing across the living room floor, a
Lily's POV They admitted me on a Thursday, the particular grey, ordinary kind of Thursday that made the whole thing feel somehow more unfair, as though a crisis this large deserved better weather, a more dramatic sky, something to mark the day as different from any other. Instead, it just rained, steady and unremarkable, the drops tracing slow lines down the window of my hospital room while a nurse fitted the monitor band around my stomach and explained, gently, that Dr. Patel wanted me here, properly now, under close observation, rather than trusting twice-weekly appointments to catch anything sudden. "Just a precaution," she said, the particular practiced reassurance of someone who said the phrase often enough that it had worn smooth. "Your blood pressure's been trending up the last two visits, and at eight months, with everything else you're managing, he'd rather have you close." "How long?" I asked, though some part of me had already guessed the answer wouldn't be simple. "Unt







