EPISODE 13: The Distance Between Us
883 Words
Elena felt it the moment she stepped back into the clinic.
The shift.
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t obvious.
But it was there.
Something had changed.
Adrian didn’t look at her.
Not once.
Not when she passed him in the hallway.
Not when she stood two feet away during rounds.
Not even when their hands almost brushed while reaching for the same chart.
It was like the night before
Like that moment
Had never happened.
And somehow…
That hurt more than anything else.
“You’re distracted again.”
Elena barely looked up this time. The young nurse stood beside her, arms crossed, watching her carefully.
“I’m working,” Elena replied, her voice quieter now.
“Barely.”
That stung.
Elena sighed, setting the chart down. “What do you want me to say?”
The nurse stepped closer, lowering her voice. “I want you to stop pretending this isn’t affecting you.”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
“It’s not”
“him?” the nurse finished for her.
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Elena looked away.
Because it was him.
It had always been him.
“He does that,” the nurse said quietly.
Elena frowned slightly. “Does what?”
“Pulls people in… then steps back before they get too close.”
Something in Elena’s chest tightened painfully.
“Why?”
The nurse hesitated.
And for the first time since Elena met her…
She looked uncertain.
“Because getting close to him,” she said slowly, “never ends well.”
That stayed with her.
All day.
Every second.
By evening, Elena couldn’t take it anymore.
She needed answers.
Not from the nurse.
Not from the others.
From him.
She found him where she always seemed to find him.
The edge of the woods.
This time, he didn’t turn when she approached.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
The same words.
The same tone.
But something about it felt… colder.
Elena stepped closer anyway.
“You don’t get to do that.”
That made him turn.
Slowly.
His expression unreadable.
“Do what?”
“Act like nothing happened.”
Her voice wasn’t soft anymore.
It wasn’t hesitant.
It was real.
Adrian’s jaw tightened slightly.
“That was a mistake.”
The words hit like a slap.
Elena’s breath caught.
“A mistake?”
He held her gaze.
Too steady.
Too controlled.
“Yes.”
Something inside her cracked.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But enough.
“Then why did it feel like it wasn’t?” she asked quietly.
That
That got to him.
She saw it.
Just for a second.
The flicker in his eyes.
The shift in his expression.
But it was gone just as quickly.
“You don’t understand what you’re getting into,” he said.
“There you go again,” she snapped softly. “Saying just enough to push me away, but never enough to explain anything.”
Silence stretched between them.
Tense.
Fragile.
Elena took another step forward.
Closing the distance.
Refusing to let him retreat this time.
“Then explain it,” she said.
Her voice was quieter now.
But stronger.
Adrian looked at her for a long moment.
And this time…
He didn’t look away.
“You want the truth?”
Her heart pounded.
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then
“I wasn’t always here.”
Elena’s breath caught.
“I studied medicine,” he continued, his voice lower now. “Just like you. Same rules. Same beliefs. Same certainty that everything had an explanation.”
Her chest tightened.
“You were… like me?”
A faint, almost bitter smile touched his lips.
“Once.”
“What changed?” she asked softly.
His eyes darkened.
“I did something I shouldn’t have.”
The air shifted.
Heavier.
Colder.
“I tried to save someone,” he continued. “And instead…”
He stopped.
Elena stepped closer without thinking.
“Instead what?”
His gaze locked onto hers.
And for the first time
There was no control.
No distance.
No mask.
“I lost them.”
The words hit harder than anything else he had said.
“And after that,” he continued quietly, “I stopped believing in limits.”
Silence fell.
Deep.
Heavy.
Real.
Elena’s chest ached.
Because now
She understood something.
Not everything.
But enough.
“You’re not a mistake,” she said softly.
Adrian’s expression shifted instantly.
“Don’t,” he said.
But she didn’t stop.
“You’re trying to fix something you couldn’t before,” she continued. “That doesn’t make you dangerous. It makes you human.”
That did it.
Adrian stepped forward suddenly, closing the space between them completely.
His hand caught her wrist again
Firm.
Intense.
“You don’t get to decide what I am,” he said, his voice low, strained.
Elena’s breath hitched.
But she didn’t pull away.
“Then show me,” she whispered.
Silence.
Charged.
Unstable.
His grip tightened slightly.
Not hurting.
But holding.
“You keep asking for something you won’t survive,” he said.
Her heart pounded.
“Then stop making me want it.”
That was it.
The line broke.
Adrian’s hand moved from her wrist
To her face.
Again.
Slower this time.
More deliberate.
Their breathing synced.
Their distance disappeared.
And this time
He didn’t step back.
- Writer
