WAKING
Mathilda’s POV
I wake to the feel of extra weight resting on my stomach.
It isn’t uncomfortable. In fact, it’s warm, But it’s unfamiliar enough that my body notices before my mind fully catches up, my senses return slowly, the steady beeping of a monitor, the faint antiseptic scent in the air. The stiffness in my limbs.
Hospital.
Right.
I don’t want the weight moved.
And I’m not ready to let him know I’m awake either.
There’s something strangely comforting about pretending, about staying suspended in that thin space between sleep and consciousness. But I think he knows. Of course he knows. Lorenzo notices everything.
The weight lifts from my stomach, careful not to jostle me, and I hear him stand. His footsteps move across the room. I hear him move a cup, clean it and then
