- Aria
I’d been practically living at the hospital more than at home lately.
I smelled like antiseptic, and the coffee machine on the third floor was my daily frenemy.
Every morning, I showed up before the sun, checking Magnus, briefing the nurses, finding any damn thing to do.
Anything was better than sitting home with Luca, pretending things were fine.
Today was one of Magnus’s better days.
His breathing was steadier, his skin less pale, and for once, he looked like he was resting instead of fighting.
I felt a tiny ache in my chest as I adjusted his blanket and brushed a few strands of white hair away from his forehead.
I loved the older man as if he were my own father.
Even when the pregnancy made me a mess, even when I felt like an outsider in this massive,
