MasukThomasThe apartment was far too quiet when we arrived.I had imagined being here differently—imagined a small place filled with life, with Kiara moving around, with the babies crying, making noise, filling every corner with something real. I had pictured chaos, warmth, interruptions… a life.But there was nothing.Only silence.Not the kind of silence you look for when you need to rest or think. Not the kind that comforts you. This was a hollow silence—heavy, uncomfortable. It crept into every corner, echoing inside my head, pressing against my chest. Since the moment we walked in, I hadn’t been able to get used to it.The absence of everything was unbearable.The walls felt narrower somehow. The air was different. There was no constant movement, no voices in the background, no footsteps echoing down a hallway. No presence of others, even in quiet moments.Just emptiness.I dropped my backpack near the couch and stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do next.I had
ThomasThe apartment was far too quiet when we arrived.I had imagined being here differently—imagined a small place filled with life, with Kiara moving around, with the babies crying, making noise, filling every corner with something real. I had pictured chaos, warmth, interruptions… a life.But there was nothing.Only silence.Not the kind of silence you look for when you need to rest or think. Not the kind that comforts you. This was a hollow silence—heavy, uncomfortable. It crept into every corner, echoing inside my head, pressing against my chest. Since the moment we walked in, I hadn’t been able to get used to it.The absence of everything was unbearable.The walls felt narrower somehow. The air was different. There was no constant movement, no voices in the background, no footsteps echoing down a hallway. No presence of others, even in quiet moments.Just emptiness.I dropped my backpack near the couch and stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do next.I had
ThomasThe apartment was far too quiet when we arrived.I had imagined being here differently—imagined a small place filled with life, with Kiara moving around, with the babies crying, making noise, filling every corner with something real. I had pictured chaos, warmth, interruptions… a life.But there was nothing.Only silence.Not the kind of silence you look for when you need to rest or think. Not the kind that comforts you. This was a hollow silence—heavy, uncomfortable. It crept into every corner, echoing inside my head, pressing against my chest. Since the moment we walked in, I hadn’t been able to get used to it.The absence of everything was unbearable.The walls felt narrower somehow. The air was different. There was no constant movement, no voices in the background, no footsteps echoing down a hallway. No presence of others, even in quiet moments.Just emptiness.I dropped my backpack near the couch and stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do next.I had
ThomasThe apartment was far too quiet when we arrived.I had imagined being here differently—imagined a small place filled with life, with Kiara moving around, with the babies crying, making noise, filling every corner with something real. I had pictured chaos, warmth, interruptions… a life.But there was nothing.Only silence.Not the kind of silence you look for when you need to rest or think. Not the kind that comforts you. This was a hollow silence—heavy, uncomfortable. It crept into every corner, echoing inside my head, pressing against my chest. Since the moment we walked in, I hadn’t been able to get used to it.The absence of everything was unbearable.The walls felt narrower somehow. The air was different. There was no constant movement, no voices in the background, no footsteps echoing down a hallway. No presence of others, even in quiet moments.Just emptiness.I dropped my backpack near the couch and stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do next.I had
ThomasThomasThe apartment was far too quiet when we arrived.I had imagined being here differently—imagined a small place filled with life, with Kiara moving around, with the babies crying, making noise, filling every corner with something real. I had pictured chaos, warmth, interruptions… a life.But there was nothing.Only silence.Not the kind of silence you look for when you need to rest or think. Not the kind that comforts you. This was a hollow silence—heavy, uncomfortable. It crept into every corner, echoing inside my head, pressing against my chest. Since the moment we walked in, I hadn’t been able to get used to it.The absence of everything was unbearable.The walls felt narrower somehow. The air was different. There was no constant movement, no voices in the background, no footsteps echoing down a hallway. No presence of others, even in quiet moments.Just emptiness.I dropped my backpack near the couch and stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do next
ThomasI never thought loving someone could hurt this much until I met Kiara.I always knew she hadn’t fully forgotten Jake. That truth had always lingered somewhere in the back of my mind, like a shadow I chose to ignore. But I never believed it would come to this. I told myself that if it ever did—if one day she chose him over me—I would be mature enough to understand it. I convinced myself I was prepared.After everything I had been through—the gunshot, the hospital, the constant feeling of standing on the edge between life and death, fighting for just one more day—I thought nothing could hit me harder than that. I thought I had already endured the worst kind of pain a person could feel.I was wrong.This… this was worse. Far worse than the bullet that had torn through my body. That pain had been physical, sharp, immediate—but it had an end. It could be numbed, treated, healed. What I felt now was something entirely different. This pain didn’t have a clear source I could touch or r
JakeKiara’s room was cold when I walked in to see her. The window was closed, but the room still felt cold. I grabbed the heating control and adjusted it so Kiara would be comfortable.I knew perfectly well that Kiara had suffered from the cold ever since she got sick and pregnant. She mentioned i
KiaraThe waiting was still torture. On one hand, Jake was stable, but on the other, the doctors hadn’t ruled out the possibility that his condition could worsen.Hours passed, and although the critical window wasn’t the same as in the beginning, the possibility of death hadn’t been dismissed.My m
JakeThe wait was eternal.My hands were shaking as I sat next to Thomas and my mother in the waiting room.Why wasn’t anyone coming to give us information? Why was it taking so long? What was happening?The pressure in my chest was worse than the bullet wound. I didn’t think I could feel anything
KiaraJake was lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to several machines, his chest bandaged and paler than I had ever seen him. He didn’t even look this pale when he was shot. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his breathing could barely be seen by the slight movement of his abdomen. It seemed hard fo







