Victor“Babies, you mean?” I just stood there, frozen, trying to make sense of what I’d heard. Stacey blinked beside me, her mouth slightly open. We both glanced at each other like we were silently confirming that we hadn’t misheard.“Wait,” I said, finally finding my voice, though it came out barely above a whisper. “Did you just say... babies?”The doctor nodded, calmly, too calmly for what he was delivering. “Yes. Twins.”Twins. Jesus Christ. She is carrying twins.I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My heart was already struggling to keep up with everything happening around me. From the time I got Stacey’s call till now, I hadn’t been okay and now this? Stacey stepped forward, voice steadier than mine. “Are they… okay?”The doctor’s face shifted slightly, a hesitation in his eyes. That pause told me everything before he even spoke.“They’re critical,” he said. “Extremely critical. We couldn’t do anything during the surgery without risking Freya. Her body is weak, and she’s still in a
StaceyI let the sun sneak into the room and warm my face before I opened my eyes. Today was my day off and I don’t have to worry about anything other than being wrapped sweetly in Ryan’s arms.He was already awake, of course. He always is. I don’t know how he manages to look like some dreamy movie scene every morning, but there he was, shirtless, scrolling through his phone with bedhead and a dimple showing.“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said with a grin, glancing over when I stretched and buried my face into his chest.“You’re warm. I hate how warm you are,” I mumbled.“And yet you’re always clinging to me like a koala,” he teased.“I’m cold-blooded. You knew what you were signing up for.”He chuckled, kissed the top of my head, and then rolled out of bed. “I made you breakfast, by the way. Don’t get too excited, it’s just eggs and toast. I think I used salt instead of sugar in the coffee, but who knows? It’s an adventure.”I propped myself up on my elbow, raising a brow. “You made
FreyaWe are finally back, and I should’ve been exhausted, but something about being home, about being here with him made everything feel light.Victor had his hand on the small of my back as we made our way to the house, our suitcases trailing behind us. I leaned into him slightly, not even realizing how naturally I did that now. Iceland might’ve been magic, but this felt like life beginning again.“You slept through like ninety percent of that flight,” he teased, his voice low and playful.I tilted my head and smirked up at him. “That’s because I was with someone I trust. A man who’s literally never let me down.”“Oh?” he raised a brow. “Your man?”I nudged him gently with my elbow. “My man.”He laughed and leaned down, kissing the top of my head. “I like the sound of that.”I didn’t say it, but I did too. More than I could ever really explain.When he opened the door and we stepped into the house, it was like walking into a breath of fresh air. Stacey had clearly gone above and bey
FreyaI didn’t want the night to end. We will be flying back home in the morning, and there is this bittersweet knot sitting in my chest the entire day. Iceland had felt like a dream, like this magical little pocket of peace that neither of us knew we needed until we got here. And now it was slipping through our fingers.So when Victor looked at me after dinner and said, “Let’s make tonight count,” I nodded without hesitation.We had no plans, reservations or even set any agenda. It was just the two of us and whatever the night wanted to give.We started by walking and the streets were quieter than usual. The cold was settling gently over the town like a soft blanket. My gloved hand was in his, and every time he squeezed it, I felt something warm bloom in my chest.“We really did this,” I said, glancing up at him as our boots crunched softly against the snow-dusted pavement.He smiled, looking down at me. “Yeah. We needed it, huh?”“More than I realized.”He stopped walking and looked
Sonia I woke up to a hum, a soft, steady hum of machines, and something warm pressing against my arm. My eyelids were heavy, like someone had glued them shut, but I forced them open.The lights were low, not like the fluorescent prison lights, but softer, gentler, like early morning. I blinked again, slower this time, and turned my head.There were white walls, pale blue curtains and a beeping sound near my ear.There was a nurse sitting by my bed, scribbling on a chart. I didn’t understand where I was at first so I tried to sit up.“Whoa… no, no, no,” the nurse said quickly, standing and placing a hand on my shoulder. “You need to relax, sweetheart. You’ve been unconscious for over a day.” She said calmly. “Where… where am I?” I croaked. My throat was dry like sandpaper. Even talking hurt.“You’re at County General,” she said gently. “They brought you in from the prison. The clinic there couldn’t handle your injuries.”Everything started rushing back at once… Camila, the fight, fis
SoniaIt has been a week since my mom came to check up on me and promised to get me a new lawyer. Every day since then, I’d stare at the ceiling in my bunk, pace the small patch of floor in my cell, and jump every time the guard passed like maybe, maybe they were coming to tell me my new lawyer had arrived.But nothing came, no calls or news. It was just complete silence. And silence inside a place like this? It eats at you. It’s like being buried alive with your own thoughts. My cellmate started asking if I was okay on the third day. I lied and said I was fine. On the fifth day, she stopped asking.After a week of no news still, I couldn’t take it anymore. The payphone in the common area had a line, like it always did, this time, it was even so long but I didn’t care. I stood there, arms crossed, biting the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t say something stupid and get written up again. When I finally got my turn, my hands were shaking so bad I nearly dropped the receiver.I dialed he