The Lies Between Us

All Reina could feel was pain. Every movement sent sharp aches through her battered body. Her ribs hurt when she breathed, her arm was wrapped in a cast, and her leg throbbed relentlessly. The physical pain should have been unbearable. Yet it was nothing compared to the agony in her chest. Physical wounds healed. Broken hearts did not. The steady beep of the heart monitor filled the otherwise silent room. Beep. Beep. Beep. Reina stared blankly at the ceiling. White. Sterile. Unforgiving. The scent of disinfectant lingered in the air. Outside the window, rain tapped softly against the glass. Three days. That's what the nurse had told her. She had been unconscious for three days. Three days since the accident. Three days since everything fell apart. Not that there had been much left to destroy. A bitter laugh escaped her lips before immediately turning into a wince. Even laughing hurt. Just a few days ago, she thought she had finally come to terms with her fate. She had already lost so much in her life. First her mother. Then her father. After that, she learned how to live with loneliness. It wasn't easy. But she learned. She learned how to smile when she wanted to cry. How to survive disappointment. How to stop expecting people to stay. The lessons had been painful. Necessary. And apparently not enough. Because despite everything she had endured, she still made the same mistake. She believed. She believed in love. She believed in promises. She believed that if she worked hard enough, loved deeply enough, and waited patiently enough, things would eventually work out. How stupid. How unbelievably stupid. Her eyes drifted toward the small table beside her bed. Someone had left flowers. White lilies. No card. No name. For a moment, she wondered who had sent them. Then she realized she didn't care. Most of the people she thought would stand beside her had disappeared long before the accident. One by one. Until there was no one left. Her throat tightened. No. That wasn't entirely true. She still had Sofia. She still had Brittany. The thought brought a small measure of comfort. Sofia had called seven times. Brittany eleven. The nurses had informed her the moment she woke up. Apparently neither of them had been handling the situation particularly well. That sounded about right. A faint smile touched her lips. It didn't last. Because another face immediately pushed its way into her thoughts. David. The smile vanished. David Leone. Even now, just thinking his name hurt. Not the sweet ache of a childhood crush. Not the nervous excitement of first love. This was something else. Something darker. Something far more dangerous. Regret. Reina closed her eyes. She could still see him. Still hear him. Still remember the final conversation that shattered everything. The disappointment. The anger. The disgust. That look. God, that look. The same look that haunted her dreams every night. The same look that made her question everything she thought she knew. What hurt most wasn't that he didn't love her. Reina had accepted that long ago. What hurt was how easily he believed the worst of her. How quickly he turned his back. How effortless it had been for him to walk away while her entire world collapsed around her. For months she replayed every conversation. Every mistake. Every misunderstanding. Searching for an answer. Searching for a reason. Searching for something that would justify the way everything ended. She never found one. The answer was painfully simple. David chose not to believe her. And once he made that choice, nothing she said mattered. A tear slid silently down her cheek. She wiped it away before another could follow. No more. She was tired of crying over him. Tired of mourning a future that never existed. Tired of loving someone who had never truly been hers. The rain outside intensified. The drops struck the window harder now. Almost angry. Her father used to love storms. He always said they reminded him that bad things never lasted forever. "No storm lasts forever, Bebesita." The memory hit her so suddenly that it stole her breath. For a moment she could almost hear his voice. See his smile. Feel the warmth of his hand resting on top of hers. A fresh wave of grief rolled through her. Even after all these years, she still missed him. She suspected she always would. Vidal had believed she could survive anything. Even this. Especially this. A slow breath escaped her lips. Maybe he was right. Maybe this wasn't the end. Maybe losing her job wasn't the end. Maybe losing her apartment wasn't the end. Maybe losing David wasn't the end. Maybe getting hit by a truck wasn't the end either. A small laugh escaped her. The sound surprised her. It sounded almost hopeful. Almost. If surviving grief hadn't destroyed her... If surviving heartbreak hadn't destroyed her... If surviving the accident hadn't destroyed her... Then perhaps life was trying to teach her something. Perhaps she wasn't meant to stay broken. Perhaps this was her chance to become someone new. Someone wiser. Someone stronger. Someone who would never again mistake a beautiful face for a beautiful soul. Reina closed her eyes. Today was the end of one chapter of her life. Tomorrow would be the beginning of another. She just didn't know yet how many lies were waiting for her there.