MELISSA’S POV
The hospital room felt colder at night. Maybe it was just me, or maybe it was the silence that made it unbearable. The machines hummed in rhythm, keeping Xavier alive while he lay motionless. I stayed by his side longer than I intended, but when the clock struck midnight, I knew I couldn’t leave. My body was exhausted, my eyes heavy, but my heart wouldn’t let me walk away.
So, I curled up on the visitor’s bed in the corner, hugging the thin hospital blanket around me. The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, mixing with the faint beep of the monitors. Nurses came in at intervals, checking Xavier’s IV drips, injecting medication, adjusting tubes. Sometimes their footsteps and soft voices stirred me, but I drifted in and out of restless sleep.
When I woke in the early
